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VpNaw News

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>IN US ON OUR WEBSITE: www.navynews.co.uk MAY 2001

£1.00

Invincible's n exercise is saved by a cool rethink WITH HER wake trailing

white and lace-like through the glassy waters of a Norwegian fiord, HMS Invincible prepares for an unusual role as she heads towards Harstad in the Norwegian Arctic.

Yet unforeseen events were to change her meticulously worked-out exercise plans. See how well she coped in pages 22-23...

Big shake-up will heighten joint training in Defence AS PART of Britain's biggest shake-up in Defence training in recent years, a new academy is to be set up by merging three major military colleges.

In a wide-ranging plan for reform designed to increases joint training at all levels, the Royal College of Defence Studies, the new Joint Services Command and Staff College, and the Royal Military College of Science will be brought together as organisations to form the major part of the Defence Academy.

The academy will also house two newly created training institutions a Joint Warrant Officers School and a Defence Leadership Centre.

Hub of this new centre of excellence will he Shrivenham where the Joint Services and Science Colleges arc already located. The Royal College of Defence Studies will continue at its London site.

A Defence Sixth Form College is also planned as well as a wider Defence Undergraduate Bursary Scheme similar to that already operated by the Navy at Southampton University. The bursary scheme is expected to boost recruitment of engineers and scientists into the Armed Forces.

A new, two-star (or Rear Admiral rank) post of Director General Training and • Turn to page 20

HMS CARDIFF IN COPENHAGEN p4 • LETTERS p6-7 • RNA CONFERENCE PREVIEW p27

2

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NAVY NEWS, MAY 2001

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Falklands patrol ship ends long absence

Foot and mouth: Navy is called in to help

FOR THE first time in over three years HMS Dumbarton Castle has entered her home port.

The Castle-class ship returned to Portsmouth on April 9 after a spell of duty as Falkland Islands patrol vessel which began in 1998.

OVER 120 Royal Navy personnel are among British Service people who have been called in to help the Ministry of Agriculture in the battle against foot-and-mouth.

Most will be involved in logistic and command and control tasks needed for the swift disposal of carcases, but a few have been trained to slaughter animals.

A spokeswoman for the Navy at Devonport told Navy News that a small number of ratings had responded to a call for volunteers to train as slaughterers.

She said: "Training takes a day and our call for volunteers is a response to a Ministry of Agriculture request for assistance in that area. If Service people are called on to help with the slaughter programme, they will use exactly the same procedures as those recognised by the Ministry of Agriculture."

Eighty RN personnel from Portsmouth have been deployed to foot-andmouth affected areas in Wales, while 40 - including sailors from Bath and Scotland - have been deployed from Devonport to the Exeter area.

Initially it is expected that the Service helpers will be deployed for up to four weeks.

Meanwhile, the Armed Forces Minister John Spellar announced on April 6 that the Services were resuming training at 21 specially selected areas across the UK. Since February 23 all military training areas had been closed to anything other than operationally essential training.

The turn-around has come after detailed discussions with experts and

local farmers.

All troops will, however, carry out full disinfencting measures and where necessary special fences will be put up to keep livestock out of contact with troops.

• The last wave ... Sailors on HMS Dumbarton Castle's flight deck mark their homecoming in joyous style as the ship (top) enters Portsmouth to a big welcome from families and friends.

Pictures: LA(PHOT) Angle Pearce

During that time, her complement of 52 were trickle-drafted, so that each member of the ship's company served for an average of six months.

Longest-serving member on board has been away since September 1999.

She was relieved on station as the only permanent RN presence in the Falkland Islands, by her sister-ship HMS Leeds Castle. Like Dumbarton Castle before her, she will be supported by a small Naval engineering party.

During the past three years, Dumbarton Castle visited many remote settlements to show the flag. She also acted as a radar picket and re-supplied Army outposts and British Antarctic Scientists on South Georgia, 800 miles from the Falklands.

There were many opportunities for sport - and for adventurous training in the challenging climate and topography. On a more sombre note, members of her ship's company visited

RN gains ten gallantry awards for Sierra Leone operation

RIVER-OF-DANGER CAPTAIN WINS DSC A FRIGATE Commanding Officer who showed "outstanding gallantry" in negotiating difficult and dangerous waters in Sierra Leone last year has been awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.

The award to Capt George Zambcllas of HMS Chatham is

one of ten for Royal Navy and Royal Marines personnel who have taken part in operations in the troubled West African republic. The awards were announced on April 6 in an Operational Honours List for members of the Armed Forces.

Chatham, a Type 22 warship, was one of the Royal Navy vessels deployed in summer of last year to

help stem a rebel advance on the Sierra Leone capital of Freetown.

As part of the peace-keeping operation - codcnamed Palliser -

Chatham landed Royal Marines and provided gunfire support. But

because of the shallow seabed

close inshore, she had to negotiate the uncharted Sierra Leone River

to bring her 4.5in gun within effective range.

The ship had to spend several nights working her way up river, guided by a small party of RN hydrographers.

The citation for the award of

the DSC to Capt Zambcllas referred to his "leadership of the highest order and outstanding personal gallantry in the face of danger to both his ship and its company."

Capt Zambellas said of the operation: "My team were well trained for this... and provided excellent support to the amphibious group as

He recently left HMS Chatham and is now on course at the Joint

Command and Staff College at Shrivcnham.

Other awards for Sierra Leone operations include a Queen's Gallantry Medal for Major Phil Ashby RM, who led an escape through the jungle by three British

officers last year. Maj Ashby, with colleagues Lt Cdr Paul Rowland and Army Major Andrew Samsonoff, were unarmed observers with UN forces in Sierra

Leone when they were captured by Revolutionary United Front forces in May.

Sir Alan West -

of the frigates that operated off Sierra Leone, there was

HQ with his national and NATO operations staffs.

As a landing platform for Army

• Royal Navy ratings are briefed at HMS Drake in Plymouth before being deployed on April 7 to

help in the fight against foot-and-mouth.

Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service.

Six other QCVS awards have been listed for Op Palliser.

They are for the Navy's seagoing commander for the operation, Commodore Niall Kilgour (Commander UK Amphibious Task Group); the CO of the helicopter assault ship HMS Ocean, Capt Scott Lidbetter; the commander of the ship's Air Group, Lt Cdr Frederick Robertson; Col Andy Salmon who led 42 Cdo ashore; Ocean's Weapons Engineer Officer, Lt Cdr Simon Atkinson; and Lt Cdr Henry Mitchell, CO of 801 Sea Harrier Squadron which provided support from HMS Illustrious.

For other operations Naval per-

would

remain at the Northwood

an OBE.

operation, has been awarded the

PLANS to concentrate the bulk of the Royal Navy's Fleet headquarters at Portsmouth have reached the consultation stage.

Under the plan, C-in-C Fleet - currently Admiral

For Cdr Rick Wellesley, CO of HMS Argyll, another

Surgeon Lt Jon Carty, the ship's doctor who was sent ashore to provide primary medical care for the

Pompey to be the new centre for bulk of the Fleet's HQ The Ministry of Defence foresees the relocation of those parts of the Fleet HQ that provide training, warfare requirements, programming and resource management for the front line.

Staff moving from Northwood in Middlesex and RN air station Yeovilton would join Fleet personnel already in Portsmouth to increase posts there.

Overall, more than 260 Service posts will disappear from the HQ staff, but they will be redeployed elsewhere. There will be an increase of nine RFA personnel, but a net total of 91 civilian posts arc expected to go.

well as the troops ashore."

helicopters, his ship played a key role in the rescue of 11 British soldiers and a Sierra Leone officer who had been kidnapped by a rebel group last autumn.

the 1982 battlefields and ensured that the memorials were in good repair.

Shortly before leaving for home, six men on board started a sponsored "upside down head" competition in which they grew beards while keeping their heads bald. As a result the ship's charity - the Special Care Baby Unit at the Vale of Leven Hospital, Dumbarton benefited by £1,100, averaging a £21 contribution by each member of the ship's company.

On their 9,000-mile journey home, Dumbarton Castle called on Brazil, Guyana and Trinidad - and in Brazil a victory by the ship's football team enabled them to claim to be the first RN side ever to beat the Brazilian Naval Academy.

After a five-month upkeep period at Rosylh, the ship will begin a new role as a tasking authority platform for mine countermeasures.

• British Forces withdraw from South Georgia - page 8.

• Capt George Zambellas outstanding gallantry in the face of danger.

sonnel receive three QCVS awards. One goes to Capt Leslie Coupland, CO of RFA Fort George in the Mozambique flood relief operation; and two arc awarded to RN people who last year took part in Operation Bolton - the UK response to tension in the Gulf.

They are Lt Cdr Michael Dreclan, Operations Officer of the frigate HMS Monmouth; and

CPO Paul Flower who led the ship's boarding teams on interdiction operations in support of UN sanctions.

One non-operational award appears on the list - going to Gibraltar-based Diver Barry George who "showed extreme courage, presence of mind and skill" in an attempt to save a crane driver whose vehicle had toppled off the Rock's harbour mole.

• Full list-page 41.

The transfer, planned to begin in about a year's time, will draw together the administration of

the Royal Marines, Royal Fleet Auxiliary, Naval aviation and

Submarine and Surface Flotillas into a single, integrated HQ. The

Permanent Joint HQ Northwood is unaffected.

at

The consultation process with trade unions was announced at

the end of March by Armed Forces Minister John Spellar. It will continue until May 15 by which the unions and others with an interest have been asked to give their views.

Mr Spellar said the rationalisation will create a HQ more responsive to this century's demands.

He said: "The C-in-C carries out a very diverse range of maritime operations, and by removing duplication, and streamlining business practices in his headquarters, the Royal Navy will be better placed to remain at the cutting edge of the world's navies."

NAVY NEWS, MAY 2001

www.navynews.co.uk

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FLOODLIT AT FOWEY A VOLUNTEER lifeboatman from Fowey brought his full-time work home with him when HMS Sutherland visited the Cornish port.

The Type 23 frigate's Commanding Officer Cdr Paul Thomas

is a Fowey resident and member of the inshore and offshore lifeboat crews.

During her stay the lifeboat was called out to assist a twoman catamaran which had got into difficulty - but on this occasion Cdr Thomas's assistance was not required.

It was a real family affair for him, though, as the duty pilot

when the Sutherland arrived was his brother-in-law, Capt Will Mitchell, who is secretary of Fowey RNLI.

Berthing outside the window of the town's Harbourmaster (Capt Mike Sutherland, continuing the family link!), the ship proved to be a major attraction, with over 500 visitors touring

her over the weekend.

She had arrived following intensive NATO exercises off the coast of Scotland.

• FLOODLIT: HMS Sutherland at Fowey.

'No Gulf War Fleet to depend on single agency syndrome' says study PUBLICATION of results of a

study on Gulf War veterans' health by a team from Manchester University has been welcomed by the Ministry of Defence.

Funded by the MOD but carried out independently by the

team led by Prof Nicola Cherry, the study is presented in two

papers - one on the pattern and extent of reported ill health and one dealing with the relationship

between health and exposures reported by Gulf veterans.

The first paper reinforces previous findings that although Gulf

veterans report more illness than those who were not deployed to

the Gulf, the overall severity of the symptoms is not high.

As with earlier work, the

research found no evidence of any illness unique to Gulf veterans both groups report the same symptoms with Gulf veterans reporting

them at a higher rate of severity.

There is no evidence of a "Gulf War syndrome".

The second paper suggests that vaccinations and the handling of

pesticides might be a cause of ill health. However the unreliability of self-reported data and the lack

of objective data is noted. Further investigation is already planned or has been under way for some time.

Veterans Minister Dr Lewis Moonie said the Manchester papers were a welcome addition to

the Gulf health debate.

LJ Latest update for deaths among both the Gulf veterans and the comparison group who did not deploy to the Gulf can be found on the GVIU web site www.gulfwar.mod.uk

JACK ET JACQUES

One-stop shop for support

(Au pub, comme d'habitude) 'Et bien, Jack - j'ai entendu que vos sous-marins, ils ont cent

ans?'

'Eh? Non! Ils ont, au maximum, vingt ans or so! Et quelquesuns seulement deux ou trois!'

'Pardon, je veux dire c'est I'anniversaire centieme du RN Sous-marin Service.'

'Ah, oui. FOSM a recevu un telegramme de la Reine, sans doute . . . Mais je suis un surface skimmer matelot pur et simple, moi. Je ne veux pas prendre la mer dans un sous-marin pour I'amour ou I'argent.'

'Pourquoi pas, Jack?'

'Pourquoi pas? Dp moi un faveur, Jacques! Ils sont tous crazy, les sous-mariners! Un torpedo short d'un full set de tubes!'

'Mmm ... II y a I'histoire d'un sous-marin CO qui a une petite piece de papier locked dans son safe personnel. Et chaque fois, lorsqu'il est entre dans le port, il I'a lu tres carefully. Et elle

a dit: "Port est a gauche, starboard est a droite".'

'C'est une vrai histoire, Jacques - mais il etait un CO Americain, je crois . . . Les sous-mariners, ils ont aussi I'habi-

ARMED Forces Minister John Spellar has announced the formation of a single Defence Agency responsible for all aspects of supporting the Fleet.

The

Warship

Support

Agency (WSA) has been created by merging the existing Ships Support Agency and most of of the Naval Bases and Supply Agency.

Said Mr Spellar: "The creation of the Warship Support Agency will deliver clear cost and operational benefits.

"It is an early example of the improvements we can make to both effectiveness and efficiency, while improving support arrangements to the front line through the creation of a single

organisation."

The WSA will adopt a more streamlined approach to warship

support, saving costs to allow for greater investment in front line

capability while also improving the service it gives the Navy.

Commented First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Nigel Essenhigh: "This is an essential and exciting new initiative that will greatly assist continuous development of high quality engineering support for the Royal Navy.

"It is an important contribution to achievement of the Defence Logistics Organisation's mission, which is to provide joint logistics support to Britain's Armed Forces."

The agency will employ 9,000 civilian and 3,500 military staff based at Bath, Abbey Wood in

Bristol,

Naval

Bases

at

Portsmouth, Devonport and the

EW research has shattered another schoolboy myth about Nelson's Flagship, HMS Victory. Contrary to

belief, the orlop deck where

Nelson died during the Battle of Trafalgar was never painted red to hide the blood of the wounded and dying.

Q If paint was used, only the cable tiers would have been painted to stop wet cables rotting the wood.

J No other existing historic ships show any signs of the red paint on their decks except in

the cable tiers. _l No traces of paint were found on original orlop deck planking revealed during recent resoration.

Photographs held at the Royal Naval

U Casualties were laid out on canvas strips so their blood would not have stained the wood.

Now the deck's layers of thick red paint are years using a revolutionary new blasting technique which does not damage the timbers.

Peter Goodwin, Keeper and Curator of

HMS Victory, said several other factors contributed towards shattering the myth.

Q Lower layers of paint contained traces of

salt, offering evidence of wet cables lying on the deck.

Q Because of the loose planks fitted to enable barrels to be lifted easily into the hold below, painting the deck would have been impractical.

Peter believes the answer lies in a misinterpretation of the word 'decks'.

"Gun decks before 1780 were often paint-

ed red on the ships' sides, because red ochre paint was the cheapest available and was used as a protective coating." he said.

"The misconception comes in our understanding of a deck being the planking we walk on, not the sides of the ships."

'II a la main tres steady?'

'Npn. II a pris une mouthful au fond de la ladder - et puis, au dernier moment, il I'a crache back dans la tasse -' 'Excusez moi, Jack, je suis tout a coup un peu queasy . . .'

Illustrations par

and the commercial dockyard at Rosylh.

Q More support for joint operations - see page 21.

HMS Victory is employing Marine Ultra

to blast away the paint safely.

Meanwhile a bizarre sight greeted visitors to the Historic Dockyard, Chatham when a scale model of HMS Victory passed the location where the original Victory was built.

The replica weighs three tons and required six men to complete the half-mile journey from the Wooden Walls gallery to her new location in the Fitted Rigging House on Anchor Wharf. The model was originally

built for the film That Hamilton Woman and was donated to the dockyard in 1995.

Elsewhere the original Bath stone model which won the competition for the design of Nelson's column has gone on public display for the first time at the National Maritime Museum.

The 8().5in model with grey marble base will join the new Maritime London permanent gallery. The model was designed and made by architect William Railton and submitted to the Nelson Memorial Committee in

Clean Ltd to remove the red paint after Peter

1838. It shows an additional flight of steps in

saw the company featured

BBC's

front of the monument which appeared in the original plan.

They use precise combinations of air pressures, water and sand plus heat if necessary,

G Copenhagen commemorated - see page

Tomorrow's World.

Shove. Et quand Ratto veut prendre un leak, Cdr Shove a recoue I'urine out of 'is manche et sur le deck!'

'Oh mon Dieu! C'est vraiment degoutant!'

'Oui - mais even worse, 'ow about le steward qui a toujours emporte une tasse de cocoa pour son capitaine, up to le bridge, sans spilling un drop?'

"I expect the WSA to provide world class support for a world class Navy.

Museum reveal that the deck was paint-free before 1922, the year she was towed into drydock. being stripped for the first time in nearly 80

tudes tres regrettables. Par example, I'appalling Cdr Shove, I'homme avec le pet rat? "Ratio", il habite a la manche de Cdr

Clyde, Pembroke Dock in Wales

-Paint job myth stripped baren

N

Le Centenaire des Sous-matins

on

4. Snuff box for auction - see page 12

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NAVY NEWS, MAY 2001

Destroyer joins commemoration of Copenhagen

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ESTROYER HMS Cardiff made a dramatic entrance to Copenhagen Harbour when she visited the city on the 200th anniversary of Lord Nelson's hardest-fought battle.

D

Danish and Norwegian ships on a march through the streets of

As the ship approached the Danish capital she fired a 21gun salute to mark the start of a six-day visit which was to

Copenhagen to the Naval Church,

culminate in a Royal Fleet

Commando Training Centre at

Review by the Queen of Denmark on April 2.

On that day, sailors from HMS Cardiff joined detachments from

accompanied by a 40-strong Royal

Marines

Band

from

the

Lympstone.

At the church a service was held to commemorate all of the men who fought and died in the Battle

of Copenhagen on April 2, 1801, and it was attended by Her Majesty Queen Margarcthe II of

• VISITORS: HMS Cardiff welcomed hundreds of visitors over the weekend of her six-day visit to Denmark to mark the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Copenhagen. Picture: Mark Hipkin

Denmark, senior Danish officers and Government officials and the Royal Navy's Deputy Commander Fleet, Vice Admiral Sir Fabian

Malbon.

The church service included moving choir

music. As it was conducted in Danish the British sailors

remained unaware of some of the references quoted from a contemporary document, which described the 1801 British Fleet being "Like a swarm of sharks

along our coastline"!

Wreaths were then laid by Queen Margarethe and Admiral Malbon at the site of the mass burial of Danish sailors killed in the Battle.

In the afternoon, as fog rolled over the sea, HMS Cardiff ceremonially sailed past an assembled line of Danish and Norwegian ships, anchored in the same positions as their predecessors were in the Battle 200 years ago, but Ibis time the guns were firing in salute, rather than anger.

Queen Margarcthe reviewed the sail past from the Trekroner Battery, an island fort which defended the entrance to the Copenhagen harbour in 1801. On her way to the Trekroner Battery, Queen Margarethe passed HMS Cardiff in her Royal Barge and the British sailors assembled on the upper decks gave the traditional 'cheer ship' in her honour.

As HMS Cardiff finally departed for Portsmouth, a grand display

• SALUTE: HMS Cardiff made an impressive entrance to Copenhagen when a 21-gun salute boomed out over the city to announce her arrival. Picture: Mar

of fireworks launched from the fort lit up the harbour.

The Battle of Copenhagen saw the defeat of the Danish Fleet

when Lord Nelson, second in command to Admiral Sir Hyde Parker, famously ignored the sig-

nal to withdraw by putting his telescope to his blind eye and declaring "I really do not see the signal."

But 200 years on, the British and Danish navies arc partners in

NATO and the anniversary was a

time to remember sailors of both sides who were killed in the Battle. Over the weekend of the six-day visit the ship was open to the public and the ship's company took part in an extensive scries of visits and ceremonials.

Musical support from Royal Marines • FRIENDSHIP: Although Britain and Denmark fought a fierce naval battle 200 years ago the countries are now allies in NATO

and the two navies enjoy excellent relations.

Picture:

I Have You Missed Us? Limited stocks of back copies 1985-96 1997 - Present, all copies

ROYAL Marines Bandsmen from CTC Lympstone were in great demand during the ceremonials which marked the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Copenhagen.

The day after their arrival with HMS Cardiff the Band visited Sankt Annae School in Copenhagen where they played to an enthusiastic audience of students. Afterwards, the Band held a workshop with some of the more senior students who joined them in a concert for the whole school.

And in the evening the Band Beat Retreat on the jetty beside HMS Cardiff during an official reception hosted by the ship. The next day, appreciative throngs of shoppers and sightseers in the Danish capital were

treated to a marching and musical display and on the Sunday there were performances at the Brondby Football Stadium and a public Beat Retreat

and Sunset ceremony in the city's historic citadel where the salute was taken by Denmark's Chief of Defence.

During the climax of the commemorations on April 2 the Band led the combined parade of British, Danish and Norwegian sailors through the streets to the Naval church.

Following the Royal Fleet Review HMS Cardiff set sail for Portsmouth

but the Royal Marines remained in Copenhagen for one final appointment, a public performance at the Mantziusgarden Concert Hall.

Ring Anne Young PORTSMOUTH 023 9282 6040

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Switch Issue No Amount (Min £5): BAND: The Royal Marines Band from CTC Lympstone, performing in the Danish capital, Copenhagen. Picture: Mark Hipkin

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NAVY NEWS, MAY 2001

Ships of the Roval Navy

No 546

Eventful career for destroyer T

YPE 42 destroyer HMS Southampton has had an eventful career to date.

She was launched at midnight in January, 1979, during

an industrial dispute, and she was severely damaged in a collision with a commercial vessel in the Gulf in 1988, requiring a piggy-back ride home and extensive repairs.

But since returning to the Fleet almost ten years ago she has participated in the full range of tasks

expected of such a versatile ship, including return trips to the Gulf.

In 1995 the Batch 2 ship was on

hand to help evacuate the population of Montserrat when the Chances Peak volcano erupted, threatening the Caribbean island.

More recently, she was on patrol in the South Atlantic last year, tak-

ing part in joint operations, and on her way back north she represented the Royal Navy at the Brazilian

Fleet Review in Rio de Janeiro.

Although designed as an air defence platform, her armaments and Lynx also give her anti-surface and anti-submarine capabilities.

The name HMS Southampton got off to an inauspicious start in the Royal Navy, with a 48-gun

fourth rate of 600 tons built in Hampshire in 1693 having to be virtually rebuilt within six years because of poor workmanship.

A second followed, of similar size, and the third took 15 years to

complete, and was probably obsolete before commissioning.

A light cruiser of 1912 won three Battle Honours in the First World War, and was the first ship to sight

the German fleet at Jutland.

The fifth HMS Southampton was a cruiser of 9,100 tons which met her end in January, 1941, when she was badly damaged by

German bombers off Crete.

Although abandoned and burning, she did not sink immediately, and had to be torpedoed by HMS Gloucester.

Facts and figures Class: Type 42 destroyer Pennant number: D90 Builder: Vosper Thornycroft, Woolston Launched: January 29,1979

Commissioned: October 31, 1981

Displacement: 4,100 tons, fully loaded Length: 125 metres Beam: 14.3m Draught: 5.8 metres Speed: 29 knots Complement: 253 (accommodation for 312) Main machinery: COGOG: Two Rolls Boyce Olympus

gas turbines, two Rolls Royce Tyne gas turbines; two shafts Aircraft: One Lynx Weapons: Sea Dart sea to air missiles; Vulcan Phalanx close-in weapon system; four 20mm guns; fitted for but not with torpedo tubes Sensors: Air search: Marconi/Signaal Type 1022;

Emeraude............... 1757 Belle lie ................... 1761 First of June ........... 1794 St Vincent............... 1797 Heligoland .............. 1914

Dogger Bank..........

Jutland ...................

Norway...................

Spartivento ............

Malta Convoys ......

1915 1916 1940 1940 1941

air/surface search: Plessey Type 996; navigations: Kelvin Hughes Type 1007 and Racal Decca Type 1008; hullmounted medium frequency search and attack sonar

WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH . . .

AIRCRAFT OF THE ROYAL NAVY

No 55

• Hawker Hunter GA 11s of 738 Naval Air Squadron

based at Lossiemouth.

... THE TOUGH GET GOING •The lavishly illustrated history of Britain's elite Green Berets, from the wartime units of the Army and Royal Marine Commandos to the Marines who serve in today's brigade •Includes the Marines in Kosovo, Sierra Leone and Ulster

Hawker Hunter GA 11 FOR SCHOOLBOYS of the 1950s, the

sleek and pleasing lines of the Hawker Hunter represented the image of what a jet fighter should look like.

The Hunter, one of the most celebrated and recognised aircraft shapes, was in fact created

by Sidney Camm, already famous for a stable of classic biplanes in the 1930s and, of course, the vital, Battle-of-Britain-winning Hawker Hurricane.

Camm began work on the design of the Hunter in 1946, the first prototype flying in 1951 and the first production aircraft entering

provide the Fleet Air Arm with a jet aircraft

suitable for advanced training of pilots in ground-attack techniques. They equipped 738 and 764 Naval Air Squadrons based at Lossiemouth.

They remained in service in that role with 764 Squadron until 1972, and with 738 until 1970, by which time the latter had moved to RN

air station Brawdy in West Wales.

The Hunter GA 11 was powered by a RollsRoyce Avon 113 turbojet producing 7,500lbs of static thrust. Maximum speed was Mach 0.94 at 36,000ft, climb rate was 9.85 minutes to 45,000ft, with service ceiling at 50,000ft. The F.4's Aden guns and radar were deleted in the GA 11, but rockets could still be carried under

service with the RAF three years later.

In 1962 the Royal Navy took delivery of 40 Hunter GA 11s - converted from RAF F.4s - to the wings on some of the aircraft.

£25.00 . HB . 288pp . 263 x 194mm 90 colour, 104 b/w photographs

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SUTTON P U B L I S H I N G

6

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NAVY NEWS, MAY 2001

Letters

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Âť<**. Jim (79) sets old standards for TV series I WAS invited to supply a set of Standard Diving Equipment I

own to help in the preparation of a BBC series on the Battle of the Atlantic, to be screened next year.

I travelled down to Portsmouth and spent a day at sea in HMS Lcdbury, showing the ship's divers

Hum issue runs on REGARDING S. Dibrey's queries about rum jars (March issue) I can help answer one of them.

While stationed in Gibraltar in 1980 I purchased two one-gallon jars of Navy rum from Cornford's.

Both were, and are still, sealed with sealing wax with a stamp impression stating 'Southern Area 12-70'.

I have assumed that the figures mean December 1970, but as the issue stopped in July, 19701 might be wrong.

It would seem that the stone jars in their wickerwork baskets were in use up until the end of the issue.

Indeed, during the Falklands War I thought I saw a clip of troops carrying the same encased jars. - R. Boden, Wokingham.

I WAS the midshipman who, almost every day, did the rum issue in HMS Highburton - an open-bridge Ton-class in the 3rd MCM Squadron at Portland - in 1969.

We certainly still had the rum issued in wicker-covered jars right up to the last day of the tot. As to re-use, I always assumed that the jars were going back to Royal Clarence Yard to be refilled. Capt A. T. Welch, British High Commission, Islamabad.

IN THE very early 1960s I was

stationed at Kalafrana in Malta and, being R. A., I did not draw a tot. The wine merchants Saccone & Speed and the bars in Malta used to sell this excellent rum called S. R. D., the nearest I have ever had to a tot.

The initials actually stood for Special Rare Demerara. Is this just a coincidence, or did the bottlers of this rum borrow the initials of the Pusscr's jar? - J.

Flynn, Edinburgh.

Letters to the Editor should always be accompanied by the correspondent's name and address, not necessarily for publication, email correspondents are also requested to provide this information

Navy 'News

Don't brand all divers 'grave robbers'

AS A serving member of the RN, a member of the British Sub-Aqua Club and someone who has lost several relatives at sea both in peace and wartime, I feel able to give a balanced point of view with regard to diving on lost ships designated as war graves.

Firstly I feel somewhat aggrieved, as I am sure do the majority of divers, at being labelled a "grave robber". Only a tiny minority of the diving community are responsible for entering these wrecks and removing objects.

This group of people is steadily becoming smaller as BSAC and the other major diving organisations in the UK enforce a self-policing policy in line with current legislation on diving war graves, and are currently running a "Respect our Wrecks" campaign.

BSAC is also working closely with the Receiver of Wrecks during the current "Wreck Amnesty" which is running to allow any persons who have recovered items to declare them.

On completion of the amnesty people will be prosecuted when caught engaged in these activities.

Visits to these sites also carry many benefits, such as: Q

Providing

survivors

associations and relatives who lost loved ones details of their final resting place.

Q Reporting on the condition of wrecks, both through decay and vandalism or any non-authorised

"commercial" recovery of wrecks.

This was recently highlighted when "sports divers" reported the

removal of propellers weighing eight tonnes from HMS Repulse.

Editorial Lines...

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Telephone: 023 9272 4194

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Fax: 023 9283 8845

Editorial & Business address:

email: edit@navynews.co.uk

Leviathan Block, HMS Nelson, Portsmouth, Hants, PO1 3HH

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Q Wrecks provide valuable living space for a whole host of marine life, and monitoring by recreational divers gives a real time snapshot of the state of the underwater environment which surrounds us.

Q Large amounts of cash go into areas where diving takes place, from boat skippers to hotels, diving shops and public houses.

In addition, diving on many of these wrecks serves to remind us of the sacrifices made by our brave seafarers in the many articles and TV programmes produced by or with the assistance of recreational divers.

To legislate against and label the 150,000 divers in the UK as "grave robbers" for the activities of a tiny minority would be the same as labeling a whole town as criminals if one of its occupants committed a crime.

Divers worldwide have a code of "Take only photographs, leave only bubbles" and I am pleased to say the vast majority abide by this.CPOWEA M.Taylor, JSSU(AN), BFPO 59.

how to dress in the diving gear to represent a Navy diver of World War II, preparing to dive on a

mine.

HMS Ledbury was taking the part of a World War II corvette. It was a very interesting day for me as an ex-Navy 1st Class Diver - and being back at sea again at 79 was

great.

I joined the Navy as a boy in

the Navy in 1953 and in 1970 started my own company, Mcdway

Diving Contractors Ltd. When HMS Belfast arrived in London I had to dive on her when she berthed and later on carried out repairs underwater on the bows. Jim Hutchison, Gillingham.

Surviving memories

1937 at HMS Ganges, served throughout the war and became the youngest Navy diver in 1942

I WAS interested to read Ted Briggs' account of the sinking of

after I started diving in HMS

HMS Hood and the effect it has

Resolution, even though I wasn't qualified, after she was torpedoed at Dakkar.

I continued diving on various ships, including HMS Phoebe, carrying out repairs to her after she was torpedoed off Ponte Noire, West Africa.

Other ships were HMS Beauly Firth, Tiree, Ncave, Scott, Superb and finally Belfast, where I was Mentioned in Dispatches for diving operations in Korea.

I continued diving after leaving

left after all these years. My

brother, who is now 80, was one of the few survivors from HMS Wakeful and it is only in the last two years we have got him to talk

about it.

He has spent the past 60 years having nightmares, seeing seamen drowning. As with many of our Servicemen in the world wars, they

were left to cope with the trauma of it all, which affected the rest of

their lives. - Doreen Simson, Crawley.

UNDER OTHER FLAGS TWO MORE SURVIVORS REGARDING the oldest ex-RN ships still in service with other navies (March issue), I submit that that honour must go to my first ship, HMS Vengeance, which I joined as a Signal Boy in 1948.

Vengeance (the seventh to bear the name) was launched in February 1944 and commissioned at Swan Hunter, Wallsend in December that year.

She embarked her first aircraft in January 1945 and sailed east for service in the British Pacific Fleet,

providing valuable service in the rehabilitation of Hong Kong after the Japanese surrender.

In 1952 she was transferred on loan to the Royal Australian Navy until 1954 and then, after a three-year refit and modernisation, she was sold to the Brazilian Navy and renamed Minas Gerais - and she is still in service, though we understand she is to be paid off this year to be replaced by the former French aircraft carrier Foch. - A. T. Ashworth, Otley, W. Yorks.

AS A result of being given the winning ticket from the Algerines Association raffle last year I was able to fly to Thailand courtesy of Thai Airways to visit the oldest sea-going ship to have served in the Royal Navy,

HTMS Phosamtom

(ex-HMS Minstrel, the last of the Algerine-class fleet mine-sweepers, launched on October 5, 1944).

She was handed over to Thailand in 1947 and has continued to serve in the Royal Thai Navy ever since.

She sails nearly every day, training future officers - and I have been informed that the King of Thailand completed his own training on board.

Her CO, Cdr Natanun Visetsomvong, officers and crew made the members of my party very welcome and we were told that any ex-Algerine finding himself in that part of the world would also be most welcome, service commitments permitting.

It is possible that the ship will decommission in two years time. Our guide, and now firm friend, for our time with her was Lt Cdr Nantanat Boonypong, who gave us a three-day extended tour of Thailand, driving us north so we could visit the bridge on the Kwai. - J. E. Carder, Hemel Hempstead. â&#x20AC;˘ HTMS Phosamptom (ex-

HMS Minstrel) coming alongside at Bangkok on February 7, 2001.

NAVY NEWS, MAY 2001 7

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Laura (15) visits the Royal Marines School of Music, andlearns they play -

Today's Royal Marines Band musicians get to play all kinds of music - not just tunes to march up and down to.

Laura Ratcliffe, a student at Cams Hill School, Fareham, Hants, talked to their Band Concert Secretary Brenda Sutherland.

What is the most popular music programme you play?

The old favourites are the most popular because our audience age group mostly seems to be over fifty. Generally we try to include a balanced programme at our concerts to include marches, classics, music from stage and shows, solo items and we like to introduce new compositions too. Of course we always finish with a big finale! This generally appeals to all tastes.We don't get a lot of young people - but we are trying to change that by introducing schools to our concerts.

Schools are being invited to bring pupils along to separate, free performances.

The idea is to introduce children to our music - and those who have music experience of their own can join in.The schools are welcoming this move and the School of Music is planning to run a workshop to visit the schools themselves, talking to the children and playing to them and with them.

How big is the Royal Marine Band Service today?

We have 340 musicians split up into five working bands - at Portsmouth, Plymouth, Lympstone (our Commando Training Centre), Dartmouth Britannia Royal Naval College and HMS Caledonia in Scotland.

The purpose of the school here is to recruit new musicians and train them to be sent out to the five working bands and we have 55 trainee students here at the moment. Each of them trains on up to three instruments but most people play two, usually a string and wind instrument.

They get the chance to start on a degree programme to work towards a Bachelor of Arts Honours degree in Music.

Do you think the fact that the band wear uniform makes a big difference to the way people enjoy their concerts?

They don't always play in full ceremonial uniform but they do when we have an open day at the school. After the concert they parade and

MUCH MORE THAN JUST MARCHING MUSIC

play for the public in Guildhall square here in Portsmouth.

People think they only play marches - no-one thinks about Royal Marine Bands as playing in quartets for instance - but I think the main thing that makes the Royal Marine Band Service stand out is the versatility of the music it plays. We play orchestral music, dance band, big band and lots of small ensembles as well.

This gives the musicians a breadth of musical knowledge - certainly the string playing brings a certain element into it which I don't think can be gained purely by playing military music alone.

What difference has having women in the band made?

I think it has widened our recruiting base a lot - because there are certainly a lot more women playing instruments these days than there are men. So we get a much bigger choice. Women have been in the Band Service for about eight years now and in the working bands for five or six years. It has made very little difference to the way the band sounds although it is nice to have female voices when we sing as a choir - but it has certainly made it more of a family band service, I think.

Q Brenda Sutherland, who retires this month after 32 years in the Civil Service, was awarded the RN's Herbert Lott Award for efficiency in 2000. A joint concert with the Band of HM Royal Marines and the Wind Band of the London College of Music will be held at Portsmouth Guildhall on May 17 at 7.30p.m. Tel 023 9282 4355 for details.

• "/ think the main thing that makes the Royal Marine Band Service stand out is the versatility of the music it plays." —

Brenda Sutherland talks to Laura Ratcliffe.

Letters

Letter brought pen pals by the boatload THE PHOTOGRAPH of HMS Loch Lomond (February issue) together with the mail delivery to HMS Loch Alvie evoked memories of my time aboard HMS Loch Lomond in 1945-46.

Dad was later posted to the RN We had just arrived back in Hospital in Yokohama and was Singapore from Saigon in 1945 awarded the Meritorious Service and were waiting for Postie to Medal for helping the injured, return with the mail - and when he both Naval and civilian, during the arrived there was boatloads of it. earthquake of 1923 while being Mailbag after mailbag was badly injured himself. dumped on board and it tran1 am proud to be an ex-Leading spired that two of the lads had Wren (1942-46) carrying on the written to the magazine family tradition of having a Picturegoer asking for "pen pals Richards from each generation in for two boys in blue, HMS Loch the Navy from the early 1800s. A. Lomond".

Richards was in HMS Victory at The mail was shared out among the Battle of Trafalgar and my the messes - and you couldn't grandson is even now awaiting his move for letters, mountains of medical so that he can carry on. them.

Gwen Harris (nee Richards), Soon, with all due respect to the Wellingborough, Northants. girls, laughter was ringing out throughout the ship. All kinds of • 'Side Boy' on board HMS offers were made and photos of Neptune, 1916 all shapes and sizes shared. - J. Whelan, Fish Hoek, Western Cape, South Africa.

That's old Ernie!

INJURED?

THROUGH a friend I have had the pleasure of reading five recent issues of Navy News. In the January issue I particularly enjoyed the supplement about the early submariners.

A photo of one Lt E. C. Leir prompted me to phone my classmate from Dartmouth days in 1940 to ask, because the likeness was striking: "Was he a relation of yours?" Sure enough, this was Uncle Ernie to R/A Richard Leir, RCN retd, currently living on the Saanich Peninsula about 20 miles north of Victoria, British Columbia. - Cdr P. Chance, RCN retd, Sidney, B.C., Canada.

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I FOUND a small brass plate in a junk shop, bearing the inscription: 'HMS HERCULES Any seamen returning from shore leave in a drunk and disorderly fashion will forfeit 7 days grog ration. By order Captain P. Hewlett, RN. January 1850'. Where would it have been displayed - outside the Jaunty's office? - J. Roberts, Presteigne, Powys.

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'Side Boy' memories I READ the letter "Muzzled Moggy" (March letters) with great interest as my late father served in HMS Neptune as a SBA from 1913 to 1919. On checking through his ditty box I found two photos of 'Side Boy', including this one of him in his hammock.

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NAVY NEWS, MAY 2001

British forces sail from South Georgia H

MS LEEDS Castle played an important role in the poignant withdrawal of the military from South Georgia, 19 years after the Argentine invasion which sparked the Falklands War.

After her arrival in the Falklands, the Offshore Patrol Vessel embarked the Commander of British Forces in the Falkland Islands, Air Commodore John Cliffe, and senior Army officers from BFFI. And for the next four days the vessel battled through Force eight conditions to reach King Edward Point - more than 1,000 kilometres away to the South East.

• SUPPORT: Diligence off South Georgia. Picture: Cpi Mark Baiiantyne RLC

British troops, supported by air and sea patrols by the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force, have been on duty in South Georgia since 1982 when authority was handed over to the military after Argentina's demand that the island should surrender.

In the fierce fighting which followed, 22 Royal Marines and 13 civilians were taken prisoner but the island was recaptured by British Forces a few weeks later on April 26.

With the withdrawal of the South Georgia Garrison theBritish presence on the 100-milelong snowcapped island has not ended altogether.

Scientists from the British Antarctic Survey will remain there in newly-completed laboratories which form the focus for fish stock management in the area.

And the Commander of British Forces in the South Atlantic, Air Commodore John Cliffe, says that the return of the two dozen troops to the Falkland Islands docs not mean there has been a change in security policy.

He said: "Patrols by Royal Navy ships and by Royal Air Force aircraft will continue around both

South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.

"As well as this, there will also be deployments of soldiers onto South Georgia for exercises."

On the four-day voyage to South Georgia, HMS Leeds Castle arranged a series of demonstrations in fire fighting, seaboat handling and 'man overboard' exercises, and passengers were encourged to visit all departments of the ship and even take the helm.

One of the guests on board was Peter Biggs, the Second in Command of the Falkland Islands Defence Force. Peter was taken to South Georgia by his parents in the early 1950s after his father, Basil, was appointed police constable and general handyman.

He and his three sisters were reared on the island, where they were schooled at the kitchen table by their mother, Betty, and by the occasional visiting scientist.

Peter left the island to become Antarctic postman and taxation officer for the Falkland Islands, and the trip with HMS Leeds Castle was his first opportunity to

• HMS LEEDS CASTLE: The Offshore Patrol played a central role in Operation Adventure, the mission to extract Military personnel from South Georgia. The ship is pictured in King Edward Cove, Grytviken. Picture: Cpl Mark Baiiantyne RLC

return to his home in South Georgia for more than thirty years.

When the offshore patrol ship arrived at South Georgia she tied up alongside RFA Diligence which had been there since March (> supporting soldiers from the Royal Engineers and Port and Maritime Royal Logistic Corps who were busy decommissioning the island's military facilities.

Sailors in HMS Leeds Castle split shifts in order to attend the opening of new British Antartctic Survey labs, a church service at the former whaling station, Grytviken,

and a wreath-laying ceremony where explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton is buried.

And they also found time to study the amazing wildlife, which includes Finn whales, fur seals, king penguins and elephant seals.

HMS Leeds Castle's return journey was even more rough, with the ship driving into a heavy Force Nine. On the way back she paused at Bird Island where she despatched one of her Sea Raiders to collect scientist Richard Phillips who spent five months on the island studying Albatrosses.

• SEABOAT: One of many demonstrations arranged by HMS Lead Castle to keep their passengers happy during the four-day voyage tO SOUth Georgia. Picture: Cpl Mark Baiiantyne RLC

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• As part of the handover from the Military to the British Antarctic Survey, a short dedication service was held at Grytviken Church and afterwards at the Whaler's Cemetary which overlooks King Edward Cove. Picture: cpi Mark Baiiantyne RLC

Antarctic warm-up for marathon men TWO SAILORS in HMS Leeds Castle are running circles in Antarctica to get fit for this year's London Marathon.

PO lan Cullingworth (36) and Leading Chef Matt McLatchie (37) have been using up all their spare time on board in order to reach peak fitness.

This will be the third London marathon for the pair - and this time they are raising money to support special training for a 12-year-old neighbour of lan's on the Isle of Wight and also for a charity which gives orphaned children in Brazil a second chance for life.They've set a target of £2,000 in their sights.

On their way to the South Atlantic, HMS Leeds Castle called at Rio de Janeiro to see at first hand the work of the volunteers they are raising money for.

"Casa Jimmy was a charity set up by former Led Zeppelin lead singer Jimmy Paige after witnessing the plight of abandoned children in Brazil,"

explained lan. "In the past there was no hope for these youngsters. They got dragged down into all sorts of things.

Many of them were also murdered by so called deathsquads."

The pop star was shocked when he witnessed the horrors facing Brazil's street urchins. Matt said: "There was just no hope at all for these kids. At least now something is being done for them - they have a second chance to live."

It takes seventeen laps of Leeds Castle to clock up a mile and the duo have done so many they've lost count. All they could be sure of is that they were eight thousand miles from home!

• WARMING UP: PO lan Cullingworth (right) and LCH Matt McLatchie in training for the London Marathon on the island of SOUth Georgia. Picture: Cpl Mark Baiiantyne RLC

11(1

C(Ulk

NAVY NEWS, MAY 2($)l

9

10

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NAVY NEWS, MAY 2001

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Russian Admiral in 'weekly war' R

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USSIAN ADMIRAL

Oleg Lazarev was given a unique view of the Royal Navy during a visit to HMS Southampton with the staff of Flag Officer Sea Training.

A RARE prize for tenacity and courage was presented 20-year-old Alex Middleton (above) at the end of a threeweek Seamanship course at HMS Raleigh.

Rear Admiral Lazarev is the 1st Deputy Chief of the Combat Training Division of the Russian Federal Navy and he sailed with the Type 42 destroyer during a Thursday War' in her final week of Operational Sea Training at Devonport.

The Boatswain Henry Cooper VC Prize is reserved for sailors who complete the course under difficult circumstances and it has not been

awarded for a number of

During a tour of the ship the Russians gained an insight into the complexities of both the training

years.

In Alex's case, he had only completed two weeks of the

provided and the responses required of ship's company to enable them to deal with almost anything that is thrown at them.

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course before he was sent on

• RUSSIAN: Rear Admiral Oleg Lazarev, 1st Deputy Chief of

This was amply demonstrated in

'Penfriends', Navy News, HMS Nelson, Portsmouth PO I 3HH. Replies to your box number will be forwarded on daily. (Payment by credit card/switch please use coupon on page 4 ).

a fire-fighting exercise in the aircraft hangar which gave the group

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man overboard alarm and

Even the interruption of a the accidental discharge of a fire extinguisher over the Staff WEO could not blunt

the impact of the exercise!

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before the visitors were flown to the Royal Navy's disaster relief training site at Bull Point.

The Russian Federal Navy took part in the disaster relief effort

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compassionate leave after his grandfather died, his pregnant wife went into premature labour and his father was admitted to hospital with a

serious illness.

Despite his troubles, Alex returned to HMS Raleigh to sit his final exam and achieved the highest marks in his entry.

POST, especially the Light Rescue Unit, would have been of immense value in ensuring his men were fully prepared for such operations.

At the end of his stay Admiral

Alex has now left HMS Raleigh and is continuing

Lazarev said he was struck by the range and complexity of FOST's

with specialist training at

activities and said that the more

HMS

sailors he saw around the world, the more he realised that they are

Portsmouth. His wife Jennifer and son Alexander are both doing well.

• Boatswain Cooper, a native of Torpoint, was one

all uniquely of one race.

He wished for stronger ties between the two navies and hoped that a forthcoming visit to Russia

by HMS Campbeltown prove a great success.

would

•

Cdr Tony Holberry, Staff

WEO to TOST, recovers from

the negligent discharge of a fire extinguisher. Picture AFFF.

At the end of 'little n' Course Number 32 he was presented with a Herbert Lott Efficiency

Award for coming top of the class and he has now won the 2009 Hugh Cheetham Hill Navigation Prize by achieving

Dryad

near

of the first men to receive the VC after leading a daring attack on Taganrog in the Sea of Azov in the late 19th Century.

His small Naval party landed in a whaler and set fire to

key enemy buildings in the town which was defended by more than 3,000 Russian troops. He was involved in many more heroic incidents

and was awarded a total of five medals during his career.

Magic result in the lottery

the best results of the year.

A Hydrographic and Meteorological specialist, James is now the second navigator in the survey ship HMS Scott, currently on deployment in the Indian Ocean.

• Lt James Stride (left) on board HMS Scott in Dubai.

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Tenacity earns a rare prize

Family reunion in Invincible FLYING operations by 800 Naval Air Squadron and a visit to HMS Invincible by a team from Flag Officer Sea Training brought about a family reunion at sea for CCMEA(H) Ron Clarke and his son, Lt Adam Clarke.

Ron Clarke was on board the aircraft carrier as a member of Flag Officer Sea Training'a Mobile Training Team 2 and the

Royal

visit gave him the unusual chance to meet Adam, the Supply Officer for 800 NAS, at sea.

Adam joined the Royal Navy in 1998 after gaining a degree in Geography at Portsmouth University and his Naval service

has already given him a chance to travel the world - his Fleet Time was spent in HMS Somerset which visited West Africa and the Falklands as Atlantic Patrol Ship (South).

Ron joined the Royal Navy in 1967 as a Shipwright Apprentice

and he went on to serve in HMS Euryalus and HMS Intrepid.

When he leaves the RN in 2003, Ron will be the last CCMEA(AH) to leave the Royal Navy.

AMATEUR magician Richic Farman did more than pull a rabbi! out of a hat when he extracted a cheque for £1,000 from the Royal Navy and

• FAMILY REUNION: CCMEA(AH) Ron Clarke of FOST's Mobile Training Team 2 with his son Lt Adam Clarke, Supply Officer of 800 Naval Air Squadron.

Marines

Sports

Lottery!

The PO Steward scooped one of the top prizes in February's draw and when he first heard of the win he said he would like to spend the money on a weekend in Cardiff to watch Manchester United winning the FA Cup. Unfortunately, even Richic's Magic is not quite that powerful!

The RN/RM Sports Lottery is open to all Serving personnel and the profits arc used to improve sports and recreation and facilities. For more details contact Lottery Manager Bill Rosewcll at HMS Temerairc on military number 9380 23806.

www. navy news. co. uk

NAVY NEWS, MAY 2001

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People in the News

Chiefs visit South Africa TWO Chief Instructors from the Communications Faculty at HMS Collingwood visited South Africa to help with the training of South African Navy personnel.

The unique opportunity found CRS Baskctficld instructing a large elass of SAN senior operations ratings on warfare communications and CCY Smith instructing a group of senior tactical ratings in fleetwork.

The training took place in the Maritime Warfare School, in the

old

Royal

Navy

town

of

Simonstown on the Cape peninsula.

During their stay both Chiefs received excellent hospitality and,

as well as conducting the training, they had the opportunity to see

some of the spectacular scenery and sights in the Cape Town area.

Members of the Simonstown's Royal Naval Association were also on hand to forge new links and friendships with today's Royal Navy.

Port needs picking up A PLEASANT surprise could be in store for six people who

were once members of the Officer's Mess at the former Submarine School in HMS Dolphin.

The Mess Manager there has a list of six people who laid down Trafalgar Port dating from 1990 to

1991 but never came back to collect it.

The details held arc: Lt Graham 1990/91 Submarine School (6 bottles) Cdr McKcnzic 1990/1991 XO (1 bottle) S/Lt Lonsdalc (3 bottles) Lt Claxton (3 bottles) Thompson (6 bottles) Cdr Sullivan 1990/1991 SO (7 bottles).

If you arc one of the above, or you know where to find them, get in touch with the Mess Manager on 023 9276 5126 before June 30.

After that the Officer's Mess

Committee intends to auction the bottles for charity!

Ensign prize THE WHITE Ensign Association Naval History Prize has been won

by S/Lt Paul Corbctt from the RFA Naval Support Unit at HMS Seahawk.

The prize, for his detailed research and dissertation on the Invergordon Mutiny of 1931, was presented by Sir Michael Belt, Chairman of the White Ensign Association at Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth.

Falklands hero presents GSM to his daughter T WAS a proud day for both officers when Royal Navy Lieutenant Katharine Rackham and her Royal Marine father, Colonel Peter Babbington, met up on board HMS Glasgow off Freetown, Sierra Leone. ! Lt Rackham (27) is the | Communications Officer of ! the Type 42 destroyer and the ship's current deployment as Atlantic Patrol Ship (South) reunited her with her father who is Chief of Staff (Operations) for the United Nations Mission to Sierra Leone.

the his

the the

minehunter HMS Sandown during Operation Allied Harvest, the

operation to clear ordnance from the Adriatic in the wake of the 1999 Kosovo conflict.

The General Service Medal is not Katherine's first award of distinction - she was the first woman

to win the Queen's Sword, which is

presented annually to the best officer cadet at the Britannia Royal Naval College at Dartmouth.

Katharine's husband Tony is also a lieutenant in the Royal Navy and is currently in command of the

Petty Officer Hugh Welsh (30) was singled-out tor treating two men from HMS Turbulent who were injured in separate accidents.

â&#x20AC;˘ PROUD DAY: Lt Katherine Rackham receives the General Service Medal from her father, Col Peter Babbington MC, on board HMS Glasgow.

Dave Thomas is the Search and Rescue pilot for 819 NAS, which is the busiest rescue unit in the whole of the United Kingdom.

His everyday activities have The flying duo both followed included anything from plucking their father's footsteps into the fallen mountain climbers to safety Fleet Air Arm - their dad Alan to responding to medical emergen- joined the Navy 29 years ago and cies, such as an airlift for a preg- served as a helicopter pilot with nant lady or rushing a critically-ill many front-line squadrons before baby from a Hebridcan island to a joining British Airways. specialist hospital in Glasgow.

Dave Thomas said: "It's great Dave's brother Steve also hopes when we can fly together and with to take on a search and rescue role our father having served in the later in his career, but for the time Royal Navy it's turning into a real being he is building his experience family business!" on his first front-line tour with 819 Brother Steve added: "It was NAS. marvellous to see Dave joining the Squadron but more importantly, Steve completed his operational flying training with 810 Naval Air having just had a baby, it is Squadron at RN Air Station extremely handy to have a babysitCuldrosc in Cornwall and served ter at a constant state of readiat sea in RFA Fort Victoria. ness!"

patrol ship HMS Brecon.

Airman clocks up 5,000 flying hours

Pembroke House

A NAVAL airman from RNAS Yeovilton has achieved a rare aviation milestone by clocking-up more than 5,000 flying hours in Royal Navy aircraft.

CPO Aircrewman Andrew Cookc from Yeovil has been in the Royal Navy since 1977 and he has logged air time in Wcssex, Sea King and Gazelle helicopters as well as Chipmunk fixed-wing aircraft.

His career in the Fleet Air Arm has taken him all over the UK and he has also served on exchange in Australia and carried out a tour of duty in Bosnia with 845 Naval Air Squadron.

A certificate marking the achievement was presented to CPO Cooke by Lt Cdr Paul Shawcross. Commanding Officer of Yeovilton-based 848 Naval Air Squadron.

With so much time spent in the air you'd think that Andrew would be glad to keep his feet firmly on the ground when not on duty but in his spare time he is a gliding instructor and he has been representing the Royal Navy in gliding competitions since 1997!

Awards follow Turbulent time TWO SUBMARINERS from HMS Turbulent have won commendations from Flag Officer Submarines, Rear Admiral Robert Stevens.

Brothers fly with same squadron BROTHERS Dave and Steve Thomas from Southampton have both landed jobs as Sea King pilots with 819 Naval Air Squadron at the Royal Navy Air Station at Prestwick in Ayrshire, Scotland.

Col Babbington has served in the Royal Marines for 35 years and was awarded the Military Cross as Company Commander of K Company during the Falklands conflict and he was particularly

proud to be asked to present General Service Medal to daughter.

Lt Rackham was awarded honour for service on board

â&#x20AC;˘ BROTHERS: Dave Thomas (left) and Steve Thomas in the cockpit of a Sea King helicopter from 819 Naval Air Squadron.

Petty Officer Welsh is a Medical Assistant who has been in the Royal Navy for 12 years and his experience and professionalism came to the fore when the accidents happened ashore d u r i n g the Trafalgar-class subm a r i n e ' s r o u t i n e v i s i t to La M a d d e l e n a in S a r d i n i a last vear.

COMMENDED: Lt Adrian Nursey (left) and POMA Hugh Welsh.

Both needed hospitalisalion and PO Welsh, as the only British medical expert, did much to ensure that the casualties received the required medical care, in spite of the language barriers, enabling them both to make a full recovery.

PO Welsh said: "My two years In the accident and emergency department of Derriford Hospital was invaluable. This commendation means a lot to me. I'm very proud."

Lt Adrian Nursey (39) joined HMS Turbulent as Assistant MEO in 1997 and his commendation was for engineering successes and personal development of his team during a busy operational period.

Lt Nursey said: "I was very surprised to receive the commendation. It's recognition for me and also recognition of my team and good leadership from above."

Lt Nursey, who joined the Navy as an Artificer in 1979 and was commissioned in 1996, is now serving in the submarine section of the Fleet Maintenance

Department at Devonport.

The Royal Naval Benevolent Trust's residential & nursing home A fine, newly modernised home near Chatham for former Sailors, Royal Marines, their wives and widows Pembroke House offers the highest standards of care, first class accommodation,

PEMBROKE HOUSE

an extensive programme of activities and

General Manager, Pembroke House, 11 Oxford Road, Gillingham, Kent, ME7 4BS.

a very friendly atmosphere - all at a

Tel: 01634 852431

relatively modest cost. For further information please contact the General

RNBT HEADQUARTERS

Manager, Pembroke House.

The Royal Naval Benevolent Trust, Castaway House, 311 Twyford Avenue, Portsmouth, PO2 8PE.

The RNBT also gives financial grants to

Tel: 023 9266 0296

serving and ex-serving RN ratings, RM

email: rnbt@rnbt.org.uk

other ranks and their dependants (the 'RNBT Family1) to help them in a wide variety of circumstances. For advice and assistance please contact the Grants Secretary at RNBT Headquarters.

THE ROYAL NAVAL BENEVOLENT TRUST SUPPORTING THE 'RNBT FAMILY'

12 Options

www. navvnews. co. uk

NAVY NEWS, MAY 2001

Veterans remember Battle of the Atlantic ] RQITAIM'Q longest Innnaet running fiinninn Naval Mowol battle tiattla nf BRITAIN'S of tlna the Second World War will be commemorated in Liverpool where the Battle of the Atlantic had its HQ.

And this year, against the impressive backdrop of Liverpool Cathedral, veterans of the campaign will be marching for the first time in eight years.

Liverpool commemorates the anniversary of the Battle of Atlantic in May of every year. It was the longest running campaign of World War II and the first encounter took place within 24 hours of the declaration of war with the sinking of SS Athenia bound from Liverpool to Canada via Belfast. The last encounter took place more than five years and eight months later.

The Battle, which kept open the supply of men, food and raw materials, was essential to Britain's

curuix/al and anri ILiverpool iwarnnnl nlawaH a frnrial survival played a crucial rnlo role uuith with more than 1,000 convoys using the port.

And in 1941, Derby House in Liverpool became the Headquarters of the Western Approaches Command, which was the heart of the organisation of the struggle against Nazi dominance of the Atlantic.

The 58th commemoration of the Battle is due to take place over the weekend of May 5 and 6 and the senior Royal Navy officer in attendance will be Flag Officer Scotland, Northern England and Northern Ireland, Rear Admiral Derek Anthony.

HMS Coventry will act as Flag Ship during the commemoration and will be alongside in Liverpool from May 3 to 9. This will be a very special visit for HMS Coventry as she holds the Freedom of the City of Coventry - which, like Liverpool, was badly bombed during the Blitz.

Whilct cariae nf uicitQ Whilst in in trtum town, thA the Qhin ship uuill will hnct host a a series of visits

•

as the ship's company enjoy sporting events which include a tournament against Liverpool and Manchester URNUs. FOSNNI will be visiting the Captain Walker's Old Boys Association and on the Saturday evening there will be a concert in the magnificent surroundings of Liverpool Cathedral in aid of King George's Fund for Sailors.

But the main event of the weekend will be the Service of Commemoration in Liverpool Cathedral on Sunday morning and a march-past led by the Band of Her Majesty's Royal Marines Plymouth.

Platoons from HMS Eaglet, the RNR unit at Merseyside, sailors from HMS Coventry and up to 350 veterans from all over the UK will make up the guard as Admiral Anthony takes the salute from the city's Kings Steps.

Shoreham is the last Sandown VT worked closely with the ships became the first Royal Navy vessels to be designed on computer using sophisticated computer aided design techniques.

The next challenge was to build

the ships to programme and to cost. After the first-of-class, VT built another four ships before

receiving an order for a further

Explosive Easter MORE THAN 2,650 peo-

ple flocked to the see Explosion! over the Easter weekend.

The new interactive museum of Naval firepower at Priddy's Hard, Gosport, traces the history of naval armaments from gunpowder to the Gulf War and 850 visited on Easter Monday

alone.

Bill Sainsbury, Marketing Manager of the £3.5 million museum said: "We've had a terrific first Easter. The museum has been open less than a month and we've already had more than 7,000 visitors."

seven, with significant modifications, in 1994.

Throughout the programme,

VT has met the requirements for time and budget, besides consistent advances in productivity, and HMS Shoreham put the seal on this highly successful project with

another series of records.

She was 90 per cent complete at launch and was one of the first

The guests, drawn from the ship's affiliated army regiment,

cadet unit, county council and adopted charity, were expecting a gentle cruise from Leigh Docks in Edinburgh to Devonport.

As the ship got under way the 'guests' were dressed in fearnought suits and breathing

apparatus and put through a realistic fire-fighting exercise which included search and rescue in

V

\nancial; on: 00800 76 76 77 77 (free from the UK & Germany) Or drop into your local NAAFI Financial Centre

u

Navy Submarine Museum, Gosport, John Goddard. last surviving crew member of HMS Affray, laid a wreath in memory of those who died when the submarine sank in the English Channel on April 17, 1951.

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A MEMORIAL service has been held for the men who were lost when HMS Protector was torpedoed off Crete in 1941.

The Service, at the Falklands Gardens, Gosport, followed a reunion at Thorngatc Halls, Gosport.

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• LAUNCH: HMS Shoreham, the last of 12 Sandown-class minehunters built for the Royal Navy by Vosper Thornycroft, is launched at their Woolston Yard in Southampton.

Royal Navy ships to be launched with her gun, a Bofors 30mm, installed.

The ship also achieved another 'first' in that the traditional prelaunch dinner with the ship's sponsor, Lady

Perowne, wife

of

Admiral Sir James Perowne, Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic, and the Controller of the Navy, was held on board.

HMS Shoreham will be handed over to the Royal Navy later this year when Vosper Thornycroft will be well advanced with its two latest RN projects, the construction of three 80-metre offshore

patrol vessels and the prime contract for two new 90-metre survey vessels, HMS Echo and HMS Enterprise, which have been subcontracted to Appledore Shipbuilders in Devon.

smoke-filled compartments and the opportunity to get thoroughly soaked.

Other exercises and demonstrations saw the affiliates carrying out leak stopping and shoring, with another chance to get wet!

The afternoon was spent in flight deck aerobics with the ship's PTI, Julie Wilsmore, but they were permitted to unwind in the

evening with some carefully-chosen films, A Perfect Storm and The Cruel Sea.

Despite their ordeal the visitors, from The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers,

The

Calvert

Trust,

Northumberland County Council, staff and students from the Bedford and Alice Harper schools, all reached Devonport in one piece.

Beagle bound for hot spot in Africa

-SALVAGE CASH NOT CLAIMED CASH AWARDS remain unclaimed by some of the sailors who took part in the following salvage operations.

If you took part and have yet to claim your reward, contact Mrs J Devlin or Mrs D Ott at NP&P (Accounts), AFPAA,

Centurion Building, Grange Rd, Gosport, Hants PO13 9XA. Tel 023 9270 2179.

FV Emily Jane (rescued by RMAS Faithful 9/87) MV Atlas (HMS Hermione 3/89) Eastern Falcon (RMAS Sealyham & Capable 3/89) MV Drasterios (HMS Hermione & RFA Olna 6/89) MT Fair Play (HMS Soberton 10/89) Yacht Sprint (HMS Ark Royal 7/90) MV Mercs Horana (HMS Brilliant 3/91) Our Holly Anne (HMS Shetland 3/91) World Hitachi Zosen (HMS Campbeltown & RFA Gold Rover 4/92) CS Europa & MV Inchon Glory (HMS Peacock 4/92) Tanker Seastar (HMS Plover 4/92) P&O Pride of Winchester (RMAS Bustler & Powerful 8/92) MV Danica Green (RMAS Salmoor & Collie, helo crew from HMS Gannet, diving team and salvage officers) Lochalsh Ferry (RMAS Cockchafer & Criccieth 12/85) Avon (RMAS Rollicker, Powerful & Bustler & Pilot Boat L8303) River Breeze (RMAS Capable & Sealyham, HMS Trumpeter & Gibraltar Defence Fire Service) Marianne Danica (HMS Sheffied, RN Sea King R193, RMAS Forceful, Careful, MoorTowl and Sal Diving GP.

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THE GUILD of Air Pilots and Air Navigators is inviting

applications for the JN Somers Airline Transport Pilot's Licence Scholarship.

To be eligible, you must be aged from 18 to 26 on August 1, hold a valid PPL and Class 1 CAA medical, hold five

GCSEs and A levels in relevant subjects and have evidence of a strong motivation towards a career in aviation.

For an application form, visit www.gapan.org or write to The Somers Scholarship, The Scholarship Secretary, Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators, Cobham House, 9 Warwick Court, Gray's Inn, London WC1R 5DL. Applications must be made on the valid GAPAN form and the deadline is August 1.

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CHRISTIE'S is holding the first Maritime sale of the year on May 24.

The auction will include

paintings,

watercolours,

prints, models, books and commemorative wares ranging from £200 to £40,000.

Many of the most momentous events in maritime history will be represented.

One of the most historically

start of a survey mission to Sierra Leone.

As well as her 47 officers and ratings, the Beagle sailed with a detachment of Royal Marines to help protect the ship and her boarding party.

On passage to Sierra Leone the ship will be visiting Tenerifc, Banjul and Dakar. When she arrives she will use her state-ofthe-art technology to survey the largely uncharted waters around Freetown.

Before leaving Britain, HMS Beagle's CPO Geoff Currcl and PO Shaun Hawksy collected unwanted toys from schools in Plymouth to pass on to children in Freetown and the ship will also be delivering sanitation equipment to the Gambia. In Sierra Leone, the sailors will take part in further community projects and help to train the country's navy.

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A NEW Branch of the Submariners Association has been launched in South Kent.

The event, at Lydd Memorial Club, was attended by 50 members and guests, and the branch was welcomed as the association's 71st by John Huntley, National Chairman of the Submariners Association.

interesting pieces is a snuff box given to the Hon Nicholas Vansittart by Admiral Lord Nelson in gratitude for reports which helped him win the Battle of Copenhagen in 1801. For details visit www.christics.com or ring

Devonport on April 19 at the

NAAFI

a

winners, 1st Cuddington (Warspite) Sea Scouts, were presented with the Otter Trophy by Commodore Laurie Brokenshirc.

HMS BEAGLE set sail from

Kit & Contents Insurance? Call

a

AT A ceremony at the Royal

competed and the overall

Visitors to Northumberland take rough with the smooth WHEN 26 visitors to HMS Northumberland stepped across the gangway for two days at sea they had no idea what they were letting themselves in for.

Newark, Notts NG24 2NY.

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S

MOD in designing the third-generation FRP minehunter and the

DID YOU serve in Canberra aircraft with the Naval Unit FRADU? If the answer is yes and you would like details of a Canberra Reunion at Newark on May 18 and 19, send a large SAE to Bill O'Sullivan, Newark Air Museum, Winthorpe Showground,

SEA SCOUTS from all over the UK descended on HMS Raleigh for their 20th annual swimming gala.

More than 162 youngsters

HIPBUILDER Vosper Thornycroft has launched the last of twelve Sandown-class minehunters built for the Royal Navy at its Woolston Yard in Southampton.

With the launch of the highly-advanced fibre reinforced plastic minehunter HMS Shoreham, the shipbuilder has come to the end of a long and successful project which began with the construction and launch of HMS Sandown in 1987.

IN BRIEF

0207581 7611.

RECORD numbers of Stores Accountants arc in training at the Royal Naval Supply School at HMS Raleigh.

This term the Stores Accountant School has 95 staff and students undergoing or providing instruction.

And the staff, led by WOSA Steve Houghton, includes six CPOSAs, four POSAs and a LWSA with • TOYS: CPO Geoff Currel (right) and PO Shaun Hawksy with some of the toys which HMS Beagle is taking with her to Freetown, Sierra Leone. Picture: LA(PHOT) Susan Rose.

more than 170 years of Royal Navy experience between them.

www. navynews, co. uk

NAVY NEWS, MAY 2001 13

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www. navy news. co. uk

NAVY NEWS, MAY 2001

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Helping Hands Ship racing is a winner

In Brief A SPONSORED abseil and an appearance on BBC TV's The Generation Game were just two of the fund-raising ideas which

helped

HMS Excellent

A CHARITY racing night with a difference

helped raise more than £700 for a children's charity.

The ship's company of HMS Scott organised a variation on the familiar horse-racing night by using ships, and the

raise

£2,670 for the training establishment's main charity, the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Children's Fund.

grand total came to £714.

Scott was surveying in the Indian Ocean at the time, but when she returned to Plymouth some of her company went to the Child Development Centre at Scott

A GRUELLING 24-hour pool

marathon at RN air station Yeovilton raised £1,326 for four-year-old local girl Nichols

Hospital to hand over the cheque and meet some of the children they are helping (see picture left).

Lincoln, who suffers from a brain disorder.

Bound for Lourdes

The money, raised by members of the Families Community Centre at the air station, was used to buy a specially-designed walking frame for Nichola.

PUPILS from Portsmouth Grammar School have collected classroom stationery for a school

in Sierra Leone after hearing about the troubled African state from the son of a Naval officer serving in HMS Iron Duke.

More than a thousand exercise books and hundreds of lead and

colouring pencils will be taken to Sierra Leone by the Type 23 frigate HMS Iron Duke, thanks to

the efforts of ten-year-old William Barker and his father, Lt Cdr David Barker.

A GROUP of children from Dover left HMS Illustrious with

smiling faces, full stomachs and goodie bags of prizes, thanks to members of B Flight of 849 Naval Air Squadron.

The 24 youngsters were invited into the carrier's Senior Rates Mess by the officers of

the Flight, who laid on a treasure hunt, pass the parcel and a tea of sandwiches and jelly, provided by the ship's chefs.

EIGHT cyclists from HMS Lancaster made their way from Portsmouth to Lancaster in relays

to raise £1,000 for the Neo-Natal Ward of the town's Royal Infirmary.

Supported by a three-strong logistics crew, the cyclists planned

a route via HMS Flying Fox in Birmingham and Warrington, and were met by the Lord Mayor at the Town Hall. The Lord Mayor's

granddaughter was herself

a

patient at the ward.

MEMBERS of the HIVE at Helensburgh played their part in the UK Big Breakfast in aid of the Cancer Research Campaign.

The ladies of the Help, Information and Voluntary Exchange on the Churchill

Estate, serving the naval base at Faslane, had a steady stream of visitors, including Commodore John Borley,

OFFICERS at HMS Nelson have chipped in to pay for a local girl and her carer to go on a trip to Lourdes.

the blessing of the Commanding Officer, Capt David Cooke, Ash managed to raise £1,100 by having his hair dyed blond while the frigate was alongside in Dubai.

WTR Becky Mooney undertook

"We will see increasing confidence, and Emma will become much more independent and self-assured. She will also have great fun - that's important - and she will meet lots of new people."

Lt Gareth Jones is the treasurer for the three Naval groups - based on Portsmouth, Plymouth and Faslane - who go to Lourdes every Easter under the auspices of HCPT - The Pilgrimage Trust.

the task of dying Ash's hair, in the Wrens' Mess, and after two hours in the drying room to allow the dye to fix, Ash faced his shipmates with his new barnet.

"It was meant to be a sort of

Lt Jones said: "The children really come out of themselves there. It's a nice atmosphere, and because everyone there is in the

African Sunset, but it came out

same boat, they feel more comfortable."

The pilgrimage takes the form of a holiday, with entertainment and day-trips outside the town itself, famous for the Catholic shrine which developed from the

The money was raised by sponsorship, and helped pay for a child and carer to go to Lourdes over Easter with the Naval clement of HCPT - The Pilgrimage Trust.

more Russ Abbot ginger," said one of his colleagues.

visions of Bernadette.

Although many of the children going

with the Navy have Service connections, a number - including Emma - have no links with the Navy.

• Emma Rednap and Jack Bear with Lt Gareth Jones (left) and the Executive Officer of HMS Nelson, Cdr John Wadham.

A NAVY man is to trek through the jungles of Borneo later this year to raise money for the British

SSAFA Forces Help and the Royal UK Beneficent Association will benefit from a lOOkm-plus trek through the wilderness of Namibia

RN air station Culdrosc, is seeking sponsors to help him reach his target of £2,600, and he is staging a

in October. Potential trckkcrs must commit to raising a minimum of £2,000, which also covers the cost of the trek.

to the British Heart Foundation, and sent to Andrew at the Survival

The trip will see participants

cross part of the Namib Desert in Africa, sleeping in tents or under

and the numerous cooked

wildlife along the way. Further details from SSAFA on 020 7403 8783, or e-mail info@ssafa.org.uk

Heart Foundation.

Andrew Robinson, serving at

number of events until his departure in September.

Donations should be made out

ONE MEMBER of a charity rowing team started as a petty officer and finished as a chief.

John Pickcring was part of the Institute of Naval Medicine Red Nose Charity Row, which aimed to complete 100,000 metres in under six hours 40 minutes, which they bettered by almost 20 minutes.

John started the event in the rank of Petty Officer Medical Assistant, but then changed into his uniform and attended the Commodore's Table to be promoted to CPOMA. He then changed back and took his

place again in the row.

The event, which raised £521 for Comic Relief, was set off by the Medical Officer in Charge,

Commodore Nick Baldock, who posed for "Pants to Patron Her Majesty The Queen

ARNO is both an officers charity and a membership association which is open to serving and retired commissioned officers of the RN, RM, QARNNS.WRNS, and their Reserves. Formed In 1925,ARNO's primary purpose is to assist officers and their dependants in need with grants and bursaries from the proceeds of its assets, which exceed (3 million.

Grants to members In need and bursaries fof children Trade discounts Including:

Today ARNO's 9,300 members are offered both financial and other advantages, the former very comfortably exceeding the

Free or reduced cost medical consultations Re-Training Brants Regional Social Functions (subsidised)

annual subscription (£10 per annum or £150 for Life)

Tel: 020 7402 5231 Fax: 020 7402 5533 e-mail: ARNO@eurosurf.com www.eurosurf.com/ARNO

Jungle trek for Andrew

Trekkers head for the desert

the stars, with the chance to sec

provided

Ash blond is dyeing for cause A SENIOR rating in HMS Cumberland let a fund-raising idea go to his head while the ship was on her recent deployment.

The scheme originally came to CPO (MEM) Paul 'Ash' Ashworth over Christmas lunch, and, with

Emma Rcdnap, who attends St Francis School for children with learning difficulties in Fareham, went to the Nelson Wardroom in Queen Street to meet some of the people who raised around £1,000 to help her on her way.

Suzanne Jones, a teacher at the school, who will also be going to France, said Emma would benefit from making the trip.

Commodore HMS Neptune,

breakfasts they raised £200.

• CPO Ashworth has his hair dyed by WTR Becky Mooney.

• insurance & Assurance • Automobile Association • Mortgage and Lego/ • Trawl & Accommodation • Private Heohn Insurance - Jewdfery & Oiino

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Use of Tbe Dauat dub In Hlayfalr

For membership app/icatJon form, please complete t/ie following:

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Cyclists ride to Brussels THERE are still places on the

Royal British Legion Bike to Brussels ride for the Poppy Appeal.

The 225-mile ride, on June 14-

Poverty" group photos wearing regulation red nose and red underpants over his uniform.

17, will cross the Pas de Calais and Flanders before finishing in the

SAILORS from the Fishery Protection Squadron raised more than £150 for Comic

Cyclists of all standards arc welcome, and will need to provide an

Relief when OM Phillips organised a fancydress five-a-side competition.

The Cup went to HMS Blythe A, dressed as Harry Enfield's Scousers, who beat the Fishery Protection Squadron team, appropriately dressed in fishnet stockings.

CFM, dressed in drag, beat the Gym Runners in the Plate competition.

A RED-NOSE Row Day at HMS Excellent raised £1,100 for Comic Relief.

Eight teams of four were challenged to row as far

as possible in one hour, and the HQRM Old Gits team - Lt Col Mustoe, Capt Clark, WO1 Salmon and C/Sgt Zawada - rose to the occasion by racking up

almost 18,000 metres. The fancy dress prize went to the Red Nose Rangers team of Lt Norford, Mark • TWO Navy wives, Charlotte Williamson and Fairclough, Katherine Ash and Louise Tadecicco.

Kirstin Crossley, joined RAF wives at RAF HMS DRAKE'S PT Department took on all-comers Cranwell to raise just over £800 for childhood can- in a charity five-a-side footiethon - and lived up to cer charity CLIC by dressing as bunny girls. their pre-tournament predictions by winning.

Charlotte's husband, Lt Stephen Williamson, is an Twenty teams entered the event, and the PTIs instructor with the Joint Elementary Flying School offered to buy chocolate bars for anyone who beat at the nearby RAF Barkston Heath airfield, which them, but the prize went unclaimed. A total of £509 was raised on the day for Comic Relief. is also the workplace of Lt Guy Crossley.

Belgian capital.

entry fee of £330 to cover all costs

of travel, accommodation and support. Each entrant must also pledge to raise at least £400.

Further details are available from Rebecca Pride on 020 7973 7255 or rpride@britishlegion.org.uk

Welcome break A HOLIDAY for siblings of special needs children is to be sponsored by Wilsons Hogg Robinson, the specialist Armed Forces insurance provider.

An agreement signed between Wilsons Hogg Robinson

and

SSAFA Forces Help will see 24 children from military families attend an action-packed week, including climbing, canoeing, raftbuilding and sailing, at Fairthorne Manor YMCA in Hampshire at

the end of this month.

www. navy news. co. uk

NAVY NEWS, MAY 2001

15

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Haslar makes each day count N

AVAL staff are playing their part in putting their day surgery unit at the forefront of patient care - and helping improve efficiency at the same time.

The unit, at the Royal Hospital, Haslar, has been open for around three years, but the particular efforts of the past year have really paid dividends, according to the

Gosport unit's nurse manager, Lt Cdr Helen McKillop.

"This is the jewel in the crown at Haslar," said Lt Cdr McKillop.

"We have some lovely real estate here, and the staff at the unit have

been working particularly hard over the past year.

"We have attended courses and conferences and visited other units.

"A lot of time and effort has been spent on the education of nurses and theatre staff, and we

Thorough preparation is a key factor in the growing reputation of the Royal Hospital's Day Surgery Unit. are trying to come to the forefront of day surgery."

assessment procedure.

Sister O'Dell Clark, the unit A recent open day, to let the Pre-Assessment Manager, said a local community and military sick patient is seen by a consultant in bays know about the role of the out-patients, and if considered unit, was the culmination of a prosuitable as a day case the consulgramme of visits by health care tant will refer them to the unit. professionals from the Wessex The patient is offered a date, region and beyond - people interand military personnel can be conested to see cutting-edge ideas tacted by phone, giving them inforbeing put into practice at Haslar. mation about the procedure, plus The unit saw 3,000 patients last sick-leave advice, obtaining a comyear, around half of them military, mitment from the patient to help the rest local civilians. smooth the process.

Suitable surgical procedures are "Pre-assessment is making sure defined by the Royal College of they have the right information, Surgeons, from the simple removal making sure they know how far of a mole to more complex hernia they can travel after surgery, when operations, and the rule of thumb they can return to work and so on," is that an operation should take no said Sister O'Dell, who liaises with longer than an hour. civilian medical centres while colOne critical aspect of the Haslar league S/Lt Fiona Bryce-Johnston, unit's success is the rigorous prea pre-assessment nurse, is to liaise

• WO Charlie Giles takes the role of the patient during a training exercise in the Day Surgery Unit at the Royal Hospital, Haslar. With his are unit ward manager Sister Sue Twiss (centre) and Operating Department Practitioner Debbie Barnes.

Picture: Keith Malcolm.

with military sick-bays around the country, including ships alongside.

"A lot of DSUs do pre-assess their patients, but there are still a lot that don't, so we are breaking ground in this area."

The efforts put into pre-assessment are translated into figures which help the unit function smoothly - 0.5 per cent of appointments are no-shows or cancellations, which the unit believes is one

of the best performances in the country. The unit also analyses

Defence medicine moves forward DEFENCE medicine has taken two major steps into the future with the formal opening of a new focal point in the Midlands and the commissioning of the Ministry of Defence Hospital Unit (MDHU) Portsmouth.

The Centre for Defence Medicine at Selly Oak Hospital, in partnership with the University Hospital Birmingham NHS Trust, will provide military personnel with training, experience and research

opportunities at a centre of excellence.

With increased military involvement in peacekeeping duties, one area of study which will be increased is refugee medicine and rare diseases from the more farflung theatres of operation.

The centre was officially opened by the Princess Royal.

Meanwhile, on April 1, responsibility for the provision of acute health care within Royal Hospital, Haslar, passed from the Defence Secondary Care

Hntpl cprx/irp Fluid OCIVIUC

aids safety of lone women THE SAFETY of women travelling alone on business is just one aspect of the Ministry of Defence's hotel booking service which has been introduced in the past four years.

Since 1997, Expotel Hotel Reservations Ltd have run the Central Hotel Booking Service (CHES) on behalf of the MOD. With more than 30 staff working exclusively on the MOD contract at offices in Stockport, Expotel aim to provide an efficient, free service to deliver the best possible standard of accommodation with-

Art Royal reunion point of contact ANYONE planning to join the reunion of radio operators from aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal in 1976-77 is asked to note a change of contact for organisers.

The event is aimed at any ROs (T or G, PO or LRO) who served in the Ark at the time the documentary Sailor was being filmed by the BBC. Potential participants for a reunion should now contact George (Weekes) Mitchell at thesparker@thefreeinternet.co.uk

Agency to Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust. At the same time, command of the hospital passed to Sgn Capt Lionel Jarvis.

MDHU Portsmouth will eventually be contained within the redeveloped Queen Alexandra Hospital site in Portsmouth.

In both the Midlands and Hampshire, military medical staff will work alongside civilian colleagues, and military and civilian patients will be treated, allowing military staff a wide range of experience.

Former naval nurse Sister Sue

Twiss, one of the 26 staff on the unit, helps ease patients through the process on the day.

"When they come in they are allotted their trolley, and that is the one which is used for their

surgery," said Sister Twiss, Ward Manager at the unit.

Operations are carried out

THE SHIP'S company of HMS Gloucester has paid tribute to an earlier generation who lost their lives rescuing survivors from a sunken destroyer.

The Type 42 destroyer conducted a wreath-laying ceremony at the spot where

the ninth Gloucester, a City-class cruiser,

"The unit is carpeted, has soft

probably the only day surgery unit in

When the surgeon is ready, the

patient is wheeled the short distance to the theatre, and only then is anaesthetic administered.

After the operation, there is a three-stage recovery process for general anaesthetic, starting with the patient waking up, then on to single-sex bays in the ward area after around 20 minutes, which is where the recovery of local anaesthetic cases begins.

The cruiser had been helping prevent Germans from landing on Crete from mainland Greece, but she and other Royal Navy ships came under heavy attack from Stuka dive-bombers.

When the destroyer HMS Greyhound was hit, sister ships Kandahar and Kinston, with cruisers Gloucester and Fiji, went to her aid.

Gloucester - the Fighting G was bombed amidships and sank at once. Sailors were subsequently machine-gunned in the water, and

only 83 of her 807 crew survived.

Wreaths were laid on behalf of the ship's company, Torpoint

British Legion and the Fighting G Club.

The destroyer was on passage to the Far East, where she will take

awareness within the hotel industry of the needs of the female business traveller, and which resulted from a survey highlighting a number of common problems faced by women travelling alone, mainly relating to safety and security.

When bookings are received

good at their job; they visited DSUs all over the country," said Lt Cdr McKillop.

and after speaking to the surgeon -

and the anaesthetist if appropriate - the patient can watch TV or sit in the ward area.

"We try not to get them into the patient role until the last moment until they are ready to go down to theatre," said Sister Twiss.

during the Battle of Crete in 1941.

Aware campaign, aimed at raising

designed, using military expertise.

The people who did it were very

lighting and even a chandelier. It is

was destroyed by German dive-bombers

One initiative promoted by Expotel has been the Women

The final stage sees the patient dress and go to a lounge decorated in calming colours and furnished with comfy sofas, reclining chairs, TV, video, hi-fi - and a chandelier.

"This unit was researched and

under general or local anaesthetic,

Wreaths are laid for the Fighting G

in agreed parameters for both Service personnel and MOD civilians, delivering reduced prices.

part in multinational exercises and undertake a number of port visits.

the country with a chandelier - and

I promise you the light is very welcoming on a dark and dirty night."

The lounge is designed to get patients used to the idea of returning to the home environment, because within less than an hour of entering the lounge they are usually ready to be picked up by a carer, who has also been factored into the pre-assessment procedure.

Each patient leaves with medication, dressings, appointments

and necessary information leaflets, including emergency numbers for on-call nurses, minimising the risk

of complications and helping boost the unit's efficiency without losing

the vital human touch.

Submarine centenary celebrated THIS month sees three significant celebrations in the Royal Navy Submarine Centenary programme.

On May 4-7, the town of Barrow, which produced the first RN boat, Holland I, hosts its centenary events.

On May 17, the Royal Navy Submarine Museum in Gosport officially opens the new Holland I exhibition - see page 30.

And from May 28 to June 3 the spotlight moves to the Clyde Naval Base at Faslane, home of the First Submarine Squadron, where up to 15 boats representing 11 nations, including the UK, are expected to attend, as well as frigate HMS Monmouth.

'"DIDO CLASS" CRUISERS' 1:700th Scale Replica Models, hand cast in metal and painted (hull in plain grey) mounted on a wooden plinth 12" x 3" complete with brass nameplate and hand made gift box. Three variants available:

from lone female travellers, hotels

accredited to the Women Aware scheme will be highlighted by

Expotel, and booked wherever practical.

Expotel can also handle conference bookings, assigning a dedicated consultant to the MOD client to oversee specific requirements, from a simple room booking to large-scale events with stage sets, sound systems, accommodation and entertainment.

Although aimed at the UK market, Expotel will also make bookings abroad where possible.

For further details on services for duty personnel, use the DFTS line (92319 849100), or call Jo Niknejad (0161 947 4404), e-mail jnikneja @ expotel.co. uk

feedback from patients to improve the level of care.

Dido 1940 & Euryalus; Charybdis 1941 & Scyila Black Prince 1943 (illustrated) & Royalist;

£65.00 • The Dental Department at HMS Neptune weighed in with their own initiative on National No Smoking Day to help smokers thinking of kicking the habit. The department staged a competition in the form of a quiz, in which the 14 winners received electric toothbrushes as prizes. The quiz featured various questions about the effects of smoking on people's teeth and gums. Pictured (left to right) are Dental Surgery Assistant Joe Marshall, Cdr Guy Pounder, Commander HMS Neptune, and organiser Mrs Lesley Mooney.

To order your mode! send your name, address and daytime telephone number, along with your with cheque or credit card details (visa/mastercard) to:

Angela Bowler, SKYTREX LTD, Park House, 25 Park Road, Loughborough,

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Email:skytrexltd@compuserve.com PLEASE ALLOW 28 DAYS DELIVERY

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16

www.navynews.co.uk

NAVY NEWS, MAY 2001

Options

Cambridge blues depart for good

WITH the Royal Marines Band Plymouth in attendance, the White Ensign flies for the last time over the gunnery training school HMS Cambridge.

The event marked the end of

the Devon establishment's 45year history - it was commissioned 100 years to the day after the fourth HMS Cambridge began life as a gunnery school.

The decommissioning ceremony on March 30 was a particularly poignant moment for David Large and Roland Merley, who as CPOs hoisted the

Ensign and commissioning pennant in Cambridge in 1956.

Face-to-face project wins over £4,500 A PROJECT by the Royal Marines Museum in Portsmouth to give visitors a chance to come Face to Face with the Past has won a grant of £4,556.

They accepted an invitation to help strike the Ensign and pennant for the closure.

The salute was taken by Rear

Admiral John Chadwick, Flag Officer Training and Recruiting.

The money was been awarded by

HMS Cambridge also housed the Naval Military Training School and the Board and Search School. Both have moved to the new entry establishment, HMS Raleigh.

Gunnery training has become

the

Clore

Small

Grants

Programme and is one of 14 payouts totalling £100,000.

The grant will help to fund the museum project which provides an educational interpreter - local drama teacher Stuart Taylor - in the roles of a World War I recruit-

the responsibility of the Hampshire establishments HMS

ing sergeant and a mess butler of 100 years ago.

Dryad and HMS Collingwood.

There, state-of-the-art virtualreality simulators will replace close-range, live firings.

The project started on Easter Monday and will continue on selected days until the end of

August. Details on 023 9281 9385.

Motoring

Executive jet of the highways S

My one reservation was that the LEEK and distinc- that while there are four valves per there is a single camshaft velour upholstery texture was so tive, the Saab cylinder, but dual-induction passages, one of grippy that it slowed getting in and Turbo is the execu- which is shut off at low revs but out - go for Saab's lovely leather if tive jet of the highways. It opened when action is demanded. your budget runs to it.

Otherwise it is a complete packis sporty yet solid, with It's efficient, and that means low age, with dual frontal and everyone cosseted, emissions.

Twin balancer shafts also help head/torso airbags, active head enjoying armchair com- smoothness and quietness - on the restraints to minimise whiplash, fort in a safety capsule. open road you easily forget it's a anti-lock brakes, electric windows

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THE ninth Goodwood Festival of Speed, Britain's biggest crowd-pulling motor race meeting last year, promises to he even better this year.

Staged on July 6-8, just a week before the British Grand Prix, the meeting near Chichester will have its best current Fl entry. Details on: www. goodwood, co. uk

It is a revelation to those who, despite the revolution in engineering, still think of diesels as lethargic, noisy and harsh.

The latest 2.2 TiD is quick by any

standards. Zero to 60mph in 10.1 seconds is brisk, but where it scores is on muscle, with low-revs torque

of 2061b/ft from as low as 1,500 revs that minimises gear changes.

In fourth it surges from 4060mph in just 6.3 seconds. In fifth, 50-70mph takes only 9.6 seconds

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NAVY NEWS, MAY 2001

17

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'Red Plum' returning after fruitful voyage

CE PATROL ship HMS Endurance is due back in Portsmouth on May 8 after a six-month deployment I to Antarctica.

ty to take walks ashore to see seals, penguins and birds, and there were many chances to observe Hump Back whales and pods of Minke and Killer whales.

The ship has completed three intensive work periods in South

During the ship's final work period, HMS Endurance earned her 'blue nose' when she entered the Antarctic Circle to visit the British Antarctic Survey Base at Rothera, at 67.4 degrees South.

Georgia and on the Antarctic Peninsula since she sailed from her home port in October last year.

While she was away the 'Red Plum' provided assistance to scientists of the British Antarctic Survey who uncovered fossil remains dating back to the extinction of the dinosaurs in an attempt to understand long term global climate change.

The ship also hosted a visit by a BBC film crew making a documentary about penguins and visited Argentinean, Chilean, Russian and American bases in Antarctica. The deployment was a great success for the ship's company who took every opportuni-

Scientists at the base hosted members of the ship's company, and took them up into the mountains for an afternoon of winter sports, skiing and tobogganing, and the stop coincided with a visit

by Flag Officer Surface Flotilla, Rear lan Admiral Forbes, who was keen to see Endurance in her working environment.

On her way back to Portsmouth, HMS Endurance is visiting ports in Chile, Ecuador, Panama and Florida.

Royal Marines follow Shackleton's example

The Portsmouth unit was founded at Eastney in 1901, two years before those at Chatham, Gosport, Plymouth and Deal, when the original Royal Marine Artillery Cadets were all sons of Royal Marines SNCOs and RN Petty Officers.

The RMA uniform was khaki with a slouch hat, bandoliers,

belts and leggings and the boys had to save up to 4s 9d to pay for

The ship's RM detachment (right) was accompanied by Sgt George Singer, the Garrison Sergeant Major from South Georgia and Brig David Nicholls.

They started at King Haakon Bay, to the south of the island, where HMS Endurance was conducting survey operations, and finished at the old whaling station of Stromness.

That was the point at which Shackleton finally reached civilisation, 20 months after he had sailed for the South Pole in the doomed ship Endurance.

The Royals' trek took just under two days, using skis, walking axes and crampons to cross 42km of

it. The corps flourished, and they were present at the coronation of Edward VII in 1902 and

Signal success for HMS Ledbury THE SKILL and dedication of radio operators in HMS Ledbury has been signalled with the award of the Redifon Silver Salver for communications excellence.

The award is given to the minor war vessel which has demonstrated the highest standards in communications performance and it is the second time that it has been won by the minehunter Ledbury.

Ledbury's communications department, run by Leading Radio

Operator Kevin Long, attracted exceptional praise during operational sea training and received an outstanding assessment after a harbour administration check.

The Silver Salver was presented by Commodore Minewarfare and Patrol Vessels, Diving and Fishery Protection, Commodore Barry Goldman, and it was received on behalf of the communications department by LRO Long.

At the presentation, which was attended by the ship's company, senior MFP officers and representatives of Redifon MEL, Commodore Goldman said: "This department's continuing high standards are a posi-

tive lead on board and a shining example to other ships in the Flotilla."

Poole hosts training convention MORE THAN 150 delegates descended on Royal Marines Poole for a convention dedicated to training and development.

The 'Dorset Connect To Learning Network Convention'

brought

together

adult

jearning, education, careers and information organisations

throughout the county.

And it gave local

people,

Servicemen and their families the

chance to receive the best advice and support for all of their learning and work issues.

The

convention

aimed

to

promote the many opportunities which exist for personal and professional development, a cause which is strongly supported by the Royal Navy and Royal Marines.

Keynote speakers included the Director of Service Education, Capt Tony Miklinski RN, and Dorset Careers Chief Executive Cynthia Gittens and RM Poole's Education and Training Officer, Lt Mark Walker RN, held a workshop in the camp's new Learning Centre.

in 1952 and the unit has thrived ever since. In 1979 the Cadet Corp reverted to its original RMVCC title and in 1997 the entry criteria was widened to include girls.

In 1991, the closure of the

were inspected by the King and Prince of Wales in 1904.

Eastney Barracks led to a relocation to the Royal Marines

Cadet recruiting was opened to a wider audience in 1922 but

School of Music and the unit

the Corps was disbanded in 1939. It reformed after WWII,

Whale Island.

and in 1951 many of the units changed their name to the RM Volunteer Boys Corps. A new fife and drum band was formed

snowfields, ridges and glaciated terrain.

• RM POOLE: WO2 Steve Kempton (left) and Mne Sean Booth with Dorset Careers Chief Cynthia Gittens, Capt Tony Miklinski and Sue Jones, Connect to Learning Co-ordinator.

Portsmouth cadets celebrate centenary PORTSMOUTH'S Royal Marines Voluntary Cadet Corps marched into the record books as the oldest RMVCC unit when it celebrated its 100th anniversary.

SEVEN Royal Marines from HMS Endurance have retraced the route of Sir Ernest Shackleton's epic trek across South Georgia.

• OUTSTANDING: Leading Radio Operator Kevin Long, head of the Communications Department in HMS Ledbury.

• Cadet drummers, 1957.

now has a permanent home on Q A centenary reunion and parade at HMS Excellent is planned for July 7. For details

call the RMVCC(P)on 02392 547 495. f/

18

Options

www. navynews,co.uk

NAVY NEWS, MAY 2001

LEAVING THE NAVY?

VOLUNTEER FOR C-DUTY WITH THE SEA CADETS AND INVEST YOUR EXPERIENCE IN THE NEXT GENERATION

Sunny interval at Culdrose 'PRECIPITATION in sight' is no longer an academic concept for the latest bevy of Sea Cadet students learning the arcane arts of meteorology at RN air station Culdrose after the wettest winter on record they know just when a hard rain's a gonna fall.

But singing in the rain is the order of the day on the HMS Seahawk course as they get to grips with deep depressions, occluded fronts and ominous-looking cloud formations.

The Met Course, which includes sitting in on pilot briefings and

AVY veterans stepping back into civvy street are being invited to help make the next generation of sailors shipshape - by volunteering as instructors with the Sea Cadets.

N

In a special appeal launched this month, officers and ratings retiring at the end of tneir Naval careers will be urged to invest their spare time in their local Sea Cadet unit and give youngsters in their own neighbourhoods the benefit of their experience.

"There is nothing like real time served to inspire young people in the traditions of the Senior Service," said Sea Cadet spokesman Roger Busby.

"It would be a waste for sailors to turn their backs on the sea when they can do so much for their own communities. We want them to share the satisfaction of helping our cadets make the most of their lives."

With 400 units nationwide, the Sea Cadets offer a wide choice of locations, from inner city neighbourhoods to coastal towns, and with up and coming specialisations from computers to cookery, it's not just knots and drill for the budding matelots.

"There's plenty of scope to pass on the skills of a job well done and earn the gratitude of young people for giving them a flying start," he said.

Now everyone leaving the Navy will get a leaflet explaining how they can get in touch with the Sea Cadets for an informal chat - and a personal invitation to see Corps values for themselves.

"There's no rush - we know how many will be preoccupied with family and career issues and adjusting to life on civvy street," said Roger.

"We just hope they will keep the leaflet on the mantleshelf until nostalgia sets in and then take a look at what's on offer - a real opportunity to make a significant contribution to the next generation. It would be a shame for people with such a wealth of experience to turn their backs on the sea."

And in a new spring and summer "target blue" recruiting drive, RN and RM Careers Offices throughout the country are being supplied with new-look recruiting literature to help swell the Sea Cadet ranks. >J Contact your local unit for details - or call SCC Headquarters on 0207 928 8978

stints in the control tower as well as classroom tuition is fast becoming a firm favourite with Sea Cadet instructors.

Meteorology is a popular GCSE subject, and when they return to their units the newly minted weather forecasters are in big demand to pass on their state-of-the-art knowledge to cadet classes.

Now when storm clouds threaten, "looks like rain" just isn't good enough for the Seahawk graduates. As the brollies come out yet again, "precipitation in sight" is the new Met mantra.

Special praise for 'shining example'

LONDON'S top lawman, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir John Stevens, singled out Sea

Cadets for special praise at a Young Citizens Awards ceremony, saying: "Tonight I have

been uplifted by these fine young people who have shown us how to cope with so much."

Presenting an award to PO Cadet Ricky Sicklemore, Sir John said the cadets had been "a shining example to others".

"Everyone who has been on this stage is very special," he said. "Let us glory in that and be very proud of each and every one."

The awards, made annually by the Youth and Community Section of the Met's Havering Police Division, recognise courage in the face of adversity.

Ricky received his as Lord Lieutenant's Cadet for Essex, for assistance with civic duties and work in the community.

Cadets Trudy Burton, Louise Downing and Jackie Stannard also received awards from the Commissioner.

Shopping made

easy

LITTLEHAMPTON Cadets did a tour of duty at their local Safeway store, helping shoppers pack their purchases - and raised ÂŁ224 for their unit in collecting boxes placed strategically at the end of the check-outs.

Store manager Adam Lawes praised the cadets for helping make life easier for shoppers and store staff alike - and for showing that business and youth can mix to everyone's advantage.

www. navy news, co.uk Options

NAVY NEWS, MAY 2001 19

Sea Cadets

OCEAN INVITATKH ASSAULT ship HMS Ocean sent a team to call on their affiliated unit TS Highburton headed by commanding officer Capt Scott Lidbetter.

He brought with him the ship's navigator, Lt Cdr Paul Romacy, second navigating officer Lt Tracey Longrill and SO (Logistics) Lt John Taylor, who is also Cadet Forces Liaison Officer.

Capt Lidbetter, seen above with TS Highburton's own CO, Lt Mark Clarke, has invited the cadets to visit HMS Ocean (right) at Devonport later in the year.

THE WHITE ENSIGN ASSOCIATION TS IRON Duke had a windfall of £104 when Driffield RNA held a bucket collection for the Hull unit - the proceeds handed over by Chairman Don Braithwaite to Gareth Jones watched by Hayley Jones, Mathew Pipes and Charles Boanas.

Thanks a bucket!

• THE TRAINING Team from the Sea Cadet Training Centre at HMS Excellent visited Malta Unit to lead the new Sea Cadet Instructors Qualifying Course. Lt Cdr Alan Waters, CSgt Glyn Robinson and PO Alison Bagulay are seen with the 14 members of TS St Paul who took the course - and passed.

A FREE SERVICE A leading Naval Charity for all ranks and rates, in the Royal Navy or Royal Marines.

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www. navy news. co. uk

20 NAVY NEWS, MAY 2001 Options

NEWSVIEW Warfare in a new cold climate f the report of the Defence Training Review has a single underlying message it is that the global security environment is changing fast - much faster and more diversely than was anticipated just a few years ago.

And this sense of urgency has been picked up all along the line - with the need for better engineering back-up for the Fleet, exemplified by the creation of a unified Warship Support Agency; and by the pooling of resources of battle-staff expertise under the new Commander UK Maritime Forces.

All of this is working towards a more realistic, closer appreciation of joint-Service operations - and of the way Service career structures need to mesh with the aspirations of the young people we need to recruit to help keep this dynamic on track.

Their hopes and expectations are very different from those of just a single generation ago, recognising as they do the general shift away from long-term job security towards a more flexible approach in the achievement of career goals.

This is not necessarily a bad thing - but while the Navy has a duty to provide its people with marketable skills to help them towards future success outside, it needs to ensure that it retains its appeal for a full career within the Navy itself.

The Navy has long provided an education in the university of life that is second to none. But the business of producing good citizens is not its sole function.

It needs to retain them for longer if they are to achieve their full potential, both for themselves and for the good of the Service.

I

Warm about Harry any ex-Servicemen of a certain age will have

MiI

mourned the passing of Harry Secombe. And they will have been joined by many more of a

later generation, for the appeal of the big, raspberryblowing clown with the golden voice was transcendent: he got a huge reception when he traveled down to

entertain the troops in the Falklands.

Of all the Goons he was the most likeable. His humour was never cruel. He was to the Goons what

Ringo was to the Beatles, what Harpo was to the Marx Brothers - the one the children loved, too.

He radiated sincerity - if you can fake that, as someone once observed, you've got it made. But you never can. Servicemen can spot a phoney a mile off, whether from the back row of the stalls or squatting on the desert sand at the edge of a huge crowd half a world away from home.

"If I Ruled the World" was his best-known song. He sang it, as he modestly used to say, 'Can belto' rather than 'Bel Canto'. But it summed up his personal credo:

"Lead a good life and do unto others as you would they should do unto you."

Training blueprint is 'excellent news' C HANGES posed by

longer to introduce. proThe end result, he said, the would be "a better and more

Defence Training Review have been welcomed as "excellent news" for the Royal Navy and Royal Marines.

Speaking to Navy News, the Second Sea Lord Admiral Sir Peter Spencer, said the DTR recommendations and extra funding for improvements to single living accommodation represented "tangible evidence" that the Services were putting their people at the centre of defence planning.

He said: "The DTR has endorsed the excellence of our initial training for officers, ratings and Royal Marines, and identified that Naval training establishments are providers of best-practice in a number of key areas, which underscores the high quality of Naval training."

The new blueprint for Defence training in the 21st century would mean closer integration between the Services, and closer integration between the Services and the Civil Service.

cost-effective training and education system properly resourced and forward-looking - a system with the capability and flexibility to help generate Armed Forces fit for the 21st century."

• The Open University is "very

excited" about the prospects

offered by the Defence Training Review, said the GD's Business Development Director, Edmund Dixon.

The OU has welcomed plans for a Defence Accreditation Board that will oversee promotion of schemes in which

• From page 1 Education will be created to head the new set-up.

training for individuals at all levels.

"We will introduce improvements to civilian training and to leadership and management training, and will make the leadership expertise of MOD and the Armed Forces more widely available as a resource for the UK as a whole," said Mr Hoon.

Training would also be improved and made more accessible through new technology. The Ministry's Service people and civilians would be supported in their personal development, which will help recruitment and retention and provide skills and qualifications to enhance the national skills base when they leave to start a new career.

The proposals are the results of an 18-month Defence Training Review headed by Vice Admiral

Jonathan

Band.

Its

report,

Modernising Defence Training, was published on March 27.

One of its effects could be the "rationalisation" of some establishments - something that will be

examined further over the next 12 months. MOD says there is a need to cut the cost and size of the train-

ing estate.

While the review found that, overall, MOD training

and education were of a high quality, improvements were needed to meet the

A "significant proportion" of specialist training would be delivered by new defence schools rather than on a single-Service basis.

That, said Mr Hoon, would eliminate duplication and improve training quality, particularly in support of joint forces and operations.

The Ministry says it recognises that training is crucial to the success of the Armed Forces and

challenges of the 21st century, including the need to

develop information-age There would be closer alignskills for all recruits to the ment with business needs and Armed Forces and MOD structures and improved Civil Service. recruitment and retention All will be required to reach through the accreditation of basic skill levels by the end of protraining and education. bation, and, generally, more train"We need to meet the aspiraing will be snared by Service people tions of our young people if we are to continue to recruit and and civilians.

Work on some of the proposals retain them in an increasingly competitive market," said including establishment of the Defence Academy - arc expected Admiral Spencer. to be completed within 12 months, "Allowing our people to while other plans will take longer obtain recognised external to bring to full development, said a qualifications like the European MOD spokesperson. Among the Computer Driving Licence will longer-term plans is the new Sixth help convince them that their Form College which will not be in interests are the Service's operation before 2005 as the lease interests as well." on the Army's Sixth Form He said some of the mea- Technical College at Wclbcck sures could be achieved quickly would not have expired before that but those that needed "up-front date. investment" would have to be Announcing the proposals, tested through project defini- Defence Secretary Gcoff Hoon tion phases and would take said: "Increasingly we face new

Service people will be encouraged to transfer skills and credits they have developed during existing training to other courses.

More than 4,000 members of the Armed Forces are studying with the OU, whose graduates include Navy personnel who studied while at sea.

• Vice Admiral Jonathan Band - he headed the tri-Service

Defence Training Review team.

challenges, and it is vital to ensure that our training continues to meet our needs and is cost-effective. . .

"The report therefore sets out a coherent set of measures designed to deliver a training and education system that is better integrated, aligned to operational and business

needs, responsive to change and cost-effective."

There will be more joint training between the Services, and more multi-national and inter-agency

spends £4.2 billion on it each year representing almost one-fifth of

defence resources.

Through cost reductions over the next 25 years, MOD

expects to make a net saving of hundreds of millions of pounds.

MOD is keen to stress that the plans would not mean the loss of

single-Service

identity.

The

Ministry spokesperson assured Navy News that: "Recruit and initial officer training will remain primarily single-Service, with joint or

Defence training increasing progressively as careers develop."

www. navy news. co. uk Options

NAVY NEWS, MAY 2001 21

COMUKMARFOR: Centre of expertise for maritime forces

• 'We are getting a much higher tempo of operations and the permanent battle staff needs to be more flexible" - Rear Admiral Stephen Meyer.

C

HANGING patterns and pace of conflict around

the world have prompted a major shift in the way

the Royal Navy plans to meet the challenges of the post Cold War era.

Last month Rear Admiral Stephen Meyer swapped his title of Commander UK Task Group (COMUKTG) for a new role as Commander UK Maritime Forces (COMUKMARFOR) - and, he told Jim Allaway, the key word from now on has to be flexibility.

"Things have become much busier over the past few years, with more

and more operations. And the way we command those operations has got to reflect this changing realism.

"Up until now I have been as COMUKTG the sole permanent operational commander - focused solely on operations and exercises. Flag Officer Surface Flotilla has been ready with some of his staff to come and replace us if we are held up somewhere for a long period or if something else is happening in parallel - they can act as the alternative Fleet Battle Staff, but they haven't been able to focus on that full time as they've had their own full-time jobs to do.

"In the days when the Navy was less busy, that was fine - but now we are getting a much higher tempo of operations and the permanent battle staff needs to be more flexible, so we can look after our own roulcmcnt arrangements and, in the worst case, be able to take care of two mediumscale operations at once.

"Things have evolved much more than we expected in terms of the number of operations we are involved in worldwide. So what we have done is to take some of the alternative battle staff and absorb them into our organisation, making a single UK Maritime Battle Staff that can then be mixed and matched as required.

"It might be that we want a single Naval officer supporting the joint commander in Sierra Leone where there is a frigate operating offshore.

Or, at the other extreme, where we're the maritime component commander or even the joint force commander for a major operation, the whole staff with even more augmcntccs would move in.

"We arc creating a single centre of expertise where all our battle staff work together on a day-to-day basis and are then selected into teams for each exercise or operation as it eomes. There isn't a set 'this is what you get' - each event will be judged on its own requirements and a team fitted to it.

"And now COMUKTG has moved up into the operational level of command as the maritime component commander, and occasionally as the joint force commander, so I have changed the title of my post to reflect that and made my deputy COMUKTG instead.

"His old title as Deputy COMUKTG has never reflected what he actually does anyway - he is a Commander in his own right."

Arc these changes down to the fact that there is much more emphasis on joint operations now, in coping with isolated trouble spots and so-

Battle staff pool their resources

called brown-water operations?

"It's partly that - but I would refuse to go down the line of only exercising and training for low level operations, because if you are not prepared for the worst, then they can escalate and then you can't deal with them. We've got to be able to plan, train and exercise for the worst, highintensity scenario. Once you can do that, then you can come down very easily to deal with lesser conflicts.

"Now, with this much more flexible organisation we can go and support all kinds of joint operations. It is almost inconceivable that we would be doing something that was purely maritime these days - we work very much in a joint environment all the time, and normally in a multi-national environment, too, either in an alliance or coalition-type operation.

"There arc also greater calls upon our time in terms of the people we exercise with. I have a NATO hat as Commander Anti-Submarinc Warfare for the Strike Force which used to be our traditional NATO role.

But I've now been selected as a maritime high readiness force headquarters for NATO which means that I no longer just work under Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic but I can also be called upon to work for SACEUR as his maritime component commander.

"And there is also a European dimension now where we might work to the European Union. So all these different calls upon ones time and exercise commitment - and possibly operational requirements - also mean we have to be more flexible than we have ever been.

O

bviously another key Navy in Europe is the French, so it is terribly important that we understand each other. And I work very closely with my opposite number in the French Navy - he is always inviting my staff to go to sea with him and is always offering staff to me when I go to sea on operations. This has got to be sensible.

"The same goes for our relationship with the US Navy - our two navies are very close and we continue to hold each other in mutually high esteem, as the recent commissioning of the USS Winston S. Churchill and the establishment of a permanent appointment of a Royal Navy officer to serve in her clearly demonstrates.

"I spend a very large part of my time travelling to meet people from other navies all around the world, particularly in the areas where we operate, and all of them are absolutely unanimous in their praise for what we in the Royal Navy do and how we do our business.

"The changes we have now made in the way we do our business at the cutting edge can only enhance that view. I think it is a very positive thing to have happened - and I think all warfare officers of the future will aspire to come into the UK Maritime Battle Staff as a key part of their progression from being a Principal Warfare Officer in a frigate to commanding a frigate in due course."

Pembroke & Co go live

HMS PEMBROKE sailed from Portsmouth on April 18 in company with Bangor, Grimsby and Ledbury for a three-month deployment to the Baltic.

Pembroke will take part in three major exercises including LIVEOPS in the Bay of Riga.

Currently holder of the fleet diving competition, she is the only mine countermeasures vessel to have completed unsupported MCM diving to 80 metres and she has a wealth of diving experience on board.

The ship's normal Clearance Diving Team of six is supplemented by her Commanding Officer Lt Cdr Tom Russell and two more of her officers who all happen to be Clearance Diving Supervisors.

LIVEOPS in the Bay of Riga will pose the biggest challenge for the ships' teams as Pembroke, with MCM1 embarked, will conduct live ordnance disposal - something they rarely get to practise for real. the deployment won't all be hard work, though. Pembroke will visit six Baltic countries between exercises, including Riga in Latvia, Parnu, Estonia for their national celebrations and Helsinki in Finland.

Her ship's company will also benefit from the recently reviewed tri-Service

Operational

Welfare

Package,

enabling all on board to keep in touch with family and friends back home and with Navy News.

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Visit our stand at...

Chatham Navy Days 26th - 28th May Collingwood Field Gun Day 23rd June Sultan Show 9th & 10th June Southsea Show 3rd - 5th August IFOS 24th - 27th August Your chance to meet representatives of the team and view items from The Collection.

The Business Manager Navy News, HMS Nelson, Queen Street, Portsmouth PO1 3HH Tel: 02392 826040

Fax: 02392 830149

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NAVY NEWS. MAY 2001

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tests in quick-thinking to solve a UNEXPECTED complex problem were faced by HMS Invincible when a rare chance for an aircraft carrier to exercise an amphibious role was threatened by the foot-andmouth outbreak.

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" ABOVE: A Sea King Mk 4 launches from HMS Invincible's flight deck, also occupied by Royal Marines vehicles ready for the airlift ashore. " LEFT: Exercise planners in the admiral's dining room, transformed into an amphibious operations room. Some fast thinking was needed if the ship was to remain in play. " BELOW: Invincible plays it cool at Harstad, 140 miles inside the Arctic Circle, and where Britain's foot-andmouth outbreak limited her ability to operate ashore.

Events which no one could have I foreseen overtook Invincible as she headed for the frozen fiords of northern Norway in late February.

With the eventual embarkation from Britain of a tailored air group - troopcarrying Sea King Mk 4 helicopters from 845 and 846 Naval Air Squadrons and a Lynx and Gazelle from 847 Squadron she was planning to test her role as a helicopter landing platform.

The chance to do that seldom arises for any of Britain's carriers. The role: undertaken by HMS Ocean, which wasj purpose-built for the job, has not been practised by an Invincible-class ship for: a decade.

Invincible's opportunity seemed to have come with her participation in the Norwealan national exercise Joint' Winter. .......................

The carrier's Commanding Officer, Capt Rory McLean, said: "The exercise: had the additional advantage that iti would allow the ship's company training opportunities in some of the world's 3

Its, Blue Nose Day

IN THE Frozen North, Comic Relief's Red Nose turned blue on board HMS Invincible.

Twelve sailors from the ship's Warfare and Weapons Engineering departments raised a cool ÂŁ1,200 with a 100,000-metre effort on one of the carrier's Concept II rowing machines.

The money has been shared between the Comic Relief appeal and King George's Fund for Sailors

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after what the team reckons was probably the coldest and most northerly Red Nose event ever - started while the ship was at Harstad.

The rowers were led by CPOCT Key Anderson who In 6mm 48secs made the fastest time. Other team members were the ship's Weapon Engineer Commander, Cdr Henry Parker; CPOs Jamie Walker, Ernie Brlgden, Key Leonard and Radar Kite; LCTs Dave Somerville, Ken Johnson and Chris Peppltt; LWEM(R) Lee Richardson; and LWEA Roger O'Toole.

The total was swollen by a donation from the WOs and CPOs 'horse-racing' night in bucketthe hangar, as well a bucketful of various currencies collected by the ship during the past three years.

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NAVY NEWS, MAY 20111

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Ice-cool planners save exercise from foot and mouth slaughter PICTURES:_CPO(PHOT) SPIDER WEBB

oughest conditions. It you can operate well north of the Arctic Circle in winter, ou can operate anywhere."

Also embarked in the carrier was the taft of Commander Amphibious Task roup. They converted the admiral's lining room on board into an amphibious operations room. Meanwhile, parts d the hangar and flight deck aft were sed as stowage areas for Royal tarlnes equipment.

As Invincible headed for the cold, plassy waters of the flords, her testing ime seemed to have begun according o plan, with the flight-deck and upperleck crews working in temperatures which dropped to minus 25C at night Then the bombshell . . . Soon after irriving at Stavanger It was clear that

news of the spread of foot-and-mouth in Britain would impose severe limitations on the ship. Norwegian concerns to keep their country free of the disease meant that the movement ashore of personnel who had left Britain soon before or after the outbreak was severely restricted. That meant an amphibious exercise such as the one planned would be impossible.

While the limits had little effect on the Royals of 42 Commando - who had been in Norway since January Invincible's people were restricted in disembarking manpower and equipment into the farming areas of the country.

"However, close liaison with the Norwegian authorities, both military and

civilian, enabled a huge amount of training to be undertaken," said Capt McLean. "Some very valuable exercises were instigated with the Norwegian Navy and Air Force, and many important lessons learned."

There still remained the problem of how to properly exercise the amphibious role. The necessary helicopters and members of 42 Cdo were embarked at Harstad, 140 miles inside the Arctic Circle. But what were they going to do?

The embarked planning staff and exercise planners ashore at RAF Lossiemouth went back to the drawing board. Then they demonstrated their flexibility by working out a new, complex scenario In double-quick time.

Instead of Norway, northern Scotland was chosen for a simulated, "Non-combatant Evacuation Operation" - or NEO. That allowed the embarked Marines and members of the ship's company to go ashore, with Invincible embarking two RAF Chinook helicopters to provide heavy lift for people and stores.

Aptly titled Tartan Relief, the exercise was played out for 36 hours, with many additional tasks, including tests for boarding parties and anti-terrorist measures. And as another compensation, the switch to Scotland allowed several hundred from Service people Lossiemouth to visit the ship - as "evacuated personnel" - for a taste of life at sea.

-V

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ft .

THIS tray of disinfectant was a compulsory step for all going ashore from the ship at Harstad - even for ship's diver WO John

Fanning.

WO Fanning was pictured coming on board after taking part In a dive to free a fishing net which had fouled HMS Invincible's stabilizers and propellers.

The abandoned net became entangled as the ship approached port. A boat's party managed to remove most of it but could not reach the areas well below the warterllne.

Giving his impressions of the dive in which he took part, CPOCT Jamie Walker said: "The underwater visibility was really fantastic but at a chilly 3C it didn't take long before the cold started to penetrate through our drysuits.

"It was a great opportunity for the team and the chance to end on a high note before going our separate ways when the ship goes in for her major refit."

" Invincible Is replenished in northern waters from the supply ship RFA Fort George. RIGHT. Men of 42 Cdo make themselves at home In the carrier's hangar and (ABOVE) POMA Malt Phillips of 845 Squadron and augmentee MA Karen Knowles of the training establishment HMS Raleigh administer first aid to a 'casualty' In the evacuation exercise Tartan Relief.

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www. navynews. co. uk

NAVY NEWS, MAY 2001

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Could you be one of our Press Gang?

Just write Captain Plank a report about one of your favourite subjects. Your report must be no longer than 200 words. Write your name and address on the back of the paper and send it to The Press Gang at the Gang Plank club.

A special panel of judges, including our very own Navy News Editor will judge your reports.

See your report and name in Navy News, pick up those pens and get writing now!

Congratulations! ...to the very first member of our Press Gang Nearly half of all of you aged between seven and

16 own mobile phones.

That's an awful lot of

Oh ho me hearties the ship be fair groaning with chocolate after that there Easter. I have ordered

the crew to stop munching and start to get fit!

Summer be coming I be sure and I want me crew to really enjoy that sun and sea. But before they can climb that there rigging they be having to tone up them muscles. I be thinking ye landlubbers should start to ready yeselves for summer.

So, don't ye be getting out of them there games at school! And how about a bit of fresh air instead of those old TVs and computers. And while ye be out having fun why not get those old adults out there too! I be off to trot round me decks - 100 times!

phones and a massive amount of money spent on calls!!!

Phones are getting funkier all the time and if you hear a wicked tune it's more likely to come from your phone than the radio! Texting is a top way to keep in touch with your friends.

BUT...... Captain Plank has found out that there can be some big problems owning and using a phone. So, to stop you getting into mobile mischief, here's Technocat's 6uide to cool use of mobile phones.

1. Always keep calls short and only phone for essential things, like keeping in touch with your parents to let them know where you are.

2. If you want to have major chats with friends call or text them quickly to set up a time to meet. It's more fun to get together anyway.

3. Most schools ban the use of mobiles. If your school has rules keep to them. You wouldn't like it if someone started a phone ringing in the middle of your top TV programme so think how a teacher feels if your phone rings in the best bit of their lesson!

4. Be careful when you send and receive text messages.

Make sure you've got the number right and don't start to get into text chats if you don't know the identity of the person sending you a message 5. Keep your mobile safe. If your school has a safe place to keep mobiles keep it there not in your school bag. Use your security code to stop other people making calls on your phone.

Finally Technocat says Mobile Phones can cost a lot of money to buy and use.

Before you spend your hardearned pocket money on calls just PAWS and check out whether you really need to make that call.

In March we asked if you wanted to be one of our very special Press Gang. The Press Gang will be asked to report on special events for the Navy News Gang Plank pages.

If you are chosen for the Press Gang your reports will appear in print with your name on them in one of our regular supplements!

Captain Plank is delighted to announce the name of the first member of the Press Gang:

Thomas Martin from Istead in Kent!

Well bone Thomas - We'll be asking you to cover an exciting event for us very soon. Watch out for Thomas's report in our Summer Supplement.

—THE MESS DECK— The crew say the post bag has been a bit lighter this month, perhaps you're all working very hard at school)! Well, don't forget the weekends, why not snap up a postcard from your local shop and send it to us, then we'll know where you live! Don't forget to write your name on it though!

Hello to Jamie (4) and Cameron (7) Abbott, they, or perhaps their Mum, sent us a great photo of themselves.

They have visited lots

of ships and Jamie has just been a star

mi 5?DO cases a? SOB oaooa Walkers Crisps have just launched Funyuns, the tastiest onions rings around!

This exciting new product is bouncing its

way onto the shelves in your local shop with the help of Oily - the cheeky onion.

at school. He did a fab project on ships and his teachers at Etherley Lane School in Bishops Auckland were so impressed! And we also have a great photo of Lisa Macpherson with her top Lego prize, and thanks to Lisa's Grandma for her help with it!

To celebrate the new era of onion ring, Walkers Funyuns are offering three Gang Plank Club readers the chance to win their own year's supply of Funyons.

Simply answer the following question: Q: What type of snack are Funyons?

Send your answer with your name, address and membership number to:The GangPlank Club' Navy News, HMS Nelson, Queen Street, Portsmouth PO1 3HH Closing date for entries - 10th June 2001 The Editors decision is final. Relatives and employees of

Navy News are ineligible.

•. Birthday Congratulations!

Carly Ambrose Grace Anderson Katie Archer Harry Bailey

W/N OH£ OF 5 FAMIW TICKETS TO TffORPC PARK WHERE YOU CAN EXPERIENCE A TRIPLE BILL OF NEW WHITE-KNUCKLE THRILLS FOR 2001 The explosive new DETONATOR. the awesome VORTEX and the 60Km per hour ZODIAC The explosive new Detonator winches riders a terrifying 100ft into the air and then fires them back to earth at a beltin' 75Kmph.

Now answer this question correctly and you could win a family ticket toThorpe Park ~ Q: WHICH OF THESE IS A NEW RIDE AT THORPE PARK? (a) - DETONATOR (b - DRILLER (c) - DRAIN Put your answer on a postcard and send it with your name, address and membership

number to:'The GangPlank Club', Navy News, HMS Nelson, Queen Street, Portsmouth PO1 3HH

Closing date for entries - lOth June 2OO1 The Editors decision is final. Relatives and employees of Navy News are ineligible.

Susie says Look Loud and help the Royal National Institute for the Bind!

On June 15 the RNIB is encouraging everyone to take part in its LOOK LOUD day.

Why not get your school to agree to take part in Look Loud. Everyone ditches their school uniform and dresses in an outrageous outfit. Don't forget to all pay £1 each to the RNIB for the privilege.

The RNIB is a top charity giving help to anyone with a serious sight problem. They give lots of help to blind and partially sighted children, supplying special equipment and toys and offering play schemes and holidays.

Want to know more, Susie says get a FREE action pack by calling the Look Loud hotline on 0870 241 4826 or log on to www.lookloud.org.uk

Johnny Baldacchino Andrew Ball Marc Ball Emma Batchelor Kristian Behling Andrew Bignall Natalie Birch Marc Blackburn Jack Boarder Darren Bowman Robert Brown

Bethany Fray Jamie Freehorn Jennifer Gallagher Callum George Jaymes Goldsmith Sarah Green Jonathon Greenall Rachel Griffin

Yasmin Hall Zoe Hall Bobby Harn Alana Harris Blake Hayward Lucy Hayward

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Joe Henderson

Matthew Burr Adam Carter Hannah Chadwick Lawrence Chichon Richard Churchill Michael Clare Jonathan Clayton Joe Clift Katie Coe Rebekah Collins Joseph Craven Sera Davies David Denny Rosa Denny Jessica Desmond Jade Devenish Clinton Diete-Spiff Alexander Drake Zara Dulling Alan Duncan Kayleigh Dyda Tamar Elderton Natasha Evans Rebecca Farress Jim Foster

Keith Higman Melanie Houghton Simon Humphreys Natalie Humphries

Gareth Irwin Callum Kill

Sophie Kirby Jason Kirk

Natasha Leak Hannah Lewis Craig Lynch Abbey MacDonald Victoria Martin Faye Masterton Alex McCue Michael McNiff Luke Mellor Adam Mitchell Richard Mitchell Gary Mitchelson Jack Moor Sean Moran

Henry Newbury Christopher Nicholson Zoe O'Grady James Overend Katie Owen Gemma Parkin Maddi Paull Ashleigh Pearson Nathan Phillips Richard Pugh Aybie-Mai Reader Man Relf Benjamin Riddleston Tanya Ridge Alexandra Roberts Lewis Rollins Robert Sawyer Andrew Shorter Matthew Simmance Daniel Sindall Jack Stephenson Andrew Stirton Scott Sutton Samuel Taylor Michael Teidman Sophie Thomas James Thorogood Lee Townsend Matthew Trotman Sean Vanstone Keeley Wainwright James Warren Polly Welch Gareth Williams Adam Willson Kerin Wilson Peter Wojcik Christopher Woods

Kirsty Morgan

Joseph Wright

Charlotte Nevitt

Ashley Young

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NAVY NEWS, MAY 2001 25

Options

THE BISMARCK

MAY 24, 1941 2200. THE ROYAL NAVY LAUNCHES THE FIRST EVER CARRIER-BORNE AIR STRIKE AGAINST A BATTLESHIP . . .

NINE TORPEDO-CARRYING SWORDFISH AIRCRAFT, LED BY LT CDR EUGENE ESMONDE. FLY OFF HMS VICTORIOUS TO HUNT FOR THE BISMARCK..

2330. FINDING HER WITH THE HELf OF HMS NORFOLK'S

RADAR. THEY MOVE IN TO ATTACK. WITH SUICIDAL BRAVERY, COMING IN AS CLOSE AS 5OO YARDS BEFORE DROPPING THEIR TORPEDOES.

MAY 25. IN THE EARLY MORNING CONTACT WITH THE BISMARCK IS LOST. IT IS ANOTHER FULL DAY BEFORE SHE IS FOUND BY A CATALINA FLYING BOAT OF RAF COASTAL COMMAND - NOW ONLY 7OO MILES FROM BREST.

FRANTICALLY TWISTING AND TURNING. THE BISMARCK AVOIDS ALL BUT ONE OF THEM - AND THIS STRIKES HER AMIDSHIPS, WHERE HER ARMOUR IS HEAVIEST, AND SO CAUSES LITTLE

DAMAGE.

MAY 26, 145O. WITH THE BRITISH SHIPS RUNNING SHORT OF FUEL, ANOTHER AIR STRIKE IS LAUNCHED FROM HMS ARK ROYAL - WHICH ATTACKS HMS SHEFFIELD BY MISTAKE .

Day at sea in a destroyer for Paul O

N the I5th of Gangplank Club member Paul Kitching, from Widnes, has bomMarch at 7am barded us with letters and drawings ever since he joined a year me, my mum, ago. Captain Plank showed them to Cdr Paul Porter, commanding my sister and officer of the destroyer HMS York - who was so impressed that he my dad set off for Portsmouth. By the time invited him to spend a day at sea with her! Here is Paul's report: we arrived it was 2 o'clock in the afternoon. We unpacked and stayed for the night in the Hotel Ibis.

At 5 o'clock in the morning we all got up, had breakfast and got a taxi to Victory Gate, where we observed HMS York come into harbour. My mum and sister then went shopping in Gunwharf Quays while my dad and me were led over to the ship.

On board we met the Commanding Officer and had a tour of the ship. With the camera Now News gave me I took many pictures.

The ship put to sea after we had had a briefing and as we left Portsmouth Harbour I went to the bridge and sat in the captain's chair, wore the captain's cap and used his binoculars. The Navigating Officer showed me the ship's course.

i FANTASTIC VOYAGE: Paul Kitching on board HMS York with her CO, Cdr Paul Porter.

When at sea we went on exercises with HMS Edinburgh. HMS Edinburgh launched her Lynx helicopter which proceeded to fly around both ships.

An officer showed me the Sea Dart missile system's magazine. The missiles were huge!

After learning about damage control, ship systems and food catering and after visiting the galley, we set off back to

Portsmouth. We passed many destroyers, frigates and minesweepers, two amphibious assault ships and a training ship.

After we had come alongside, the captain presented me with a signed picture of the ship and a bag full of gifts. I gave him a picture of HMS York that I had drawn and

then I went below to have lunch in the wardroom.

We left the dockyard by minibus and spent the rest of the day going to the museums and historic ships.

When I think about the whole trip, the best part had to be the missiles. And the worst part? Well, there wasn't one!

It was all incredibly fantastic!

Please enroll me as a member of The Cany flank Club.

I enclose a PO/cheque (payable to Navy Mews) for: £4.25 / year OK - £7.5O 2 year VK (saving £f) Name .....

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................................................. Postcode D.O.B . ..................................... Tel No ......

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Send your completed form, together with a postal order/cheque for E4.25 or E7.50 to:

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NAVY NEWS, MAY 2001

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Roval Naval You can bid for the original of this picture

DERBY'S DAY

NAVY NEWS has joined the

Tamworth Herald and Cambridge Stamp Centre to offer readers a chance to bid for this originaj painting depicting a dramatic naval action from World War II - and we are extending our deadline for

bids, called for in our April issue, to June 15.

The painting of HMS Petard

sinking Japanese submarine I-27 in 1944 was commissioned for a commemorative postal cover

by Cambridge Stamp Centre in conjunction with HMS Petard Association. The work by

Michael Roffe has a reserve price of £650, with any amount that it makes over £500 going towards the appeal fund for a

permanent memorial to three men serving in HMS Petard

when THIS RARE picture of HMS

Derby has surfaced thanks to a letter to Navy News (January) by John Leins who spotted the original in the Hellenic Maritime Museum m Piraeus, tne

Newbury Eighteen standards were paraded before the annual memorial service

Italian fleet at Alexandria, with Derby wearing the flag of

Andrew

Church was conducted by the Rev

Cunningham, and a Greek admiral's ship in the foreground.

Mr Leins' letter was prompted by reading our November issue which referred to a rare photograph of the old coalfuelled minesweeper being

David Cooke, lessons being read by the Deputy Mayor, Cllr Clive

Admiral

Sir

presented to Derby town by the local RNA branch.

retrieved

vital

the original should be made in

Two of the men, AB Colin Grazier, of Tamworth, and Lt Tony Fasson died in the operation, while the third - Naafi canteen assistant Tommy Brown died later in the war. All bids for

writing to Keith Astell, Sales

Hillman, and Shipmate Vernon Coles DSM, president of the Royal

The highest bid lodged by June 15 will obtain the painting.

Shipmate of the Year went to lan

Lightfoot, who was also elected branch chairman.

Shipmates Lt Cdr Jon Lorton and Brian Neal, the former vice-chairman.

when at the annual general meeting there were too few members to

Appreciation was expressed for the 12 years service both retiring officers had given to the branch.

The new vice chairman is

joined Kingston branch.

those who lost their lives in Tigris.

Standards paraded included those of the Royal Berkshire Submariners Association, Newbury

Swindon Members were complimented on the continuing success of branch and club by their president, Rear Admiral Nicholas Wilkinson,

Shipmate Adrian Andrews, and the new PRO is Shipmate Allan Lucas

Mortlake and Richmond branch form a committee. Those left have SHIPMATE Malcolm Day, former chairman and standard

bearer of Chard branch has been made a life member.

At No 1 Area general meeting, hosted by Hanworth branch, Shipmate John Woodrow (Mitcham, Morden & Wimbledon and Area treasurer) received life membership. Shipmate Ann Foley (Greenford and Area and branch

War veteran Shipmate lan Green was elected chairman. Shipmate

Surridge, standing down for health reasons.

LIFE membership and a certificate of appreciation was received by

Glasgow

annual

standard bearer) was elected Shipmate of the Year, and

Gordon Probets was awarded life membership and Shipmate Ted Brown, branch secretary for the

past

Halliday, and members presented £300 to the Erskine Home for disabled ex-Service people.

Berkshire branch of the Submariners Association.

Guests included former sub- Shipmate Gerry Nash (South mariners Vice Admiral Sir Harrow) was runner-up.

Anthony Troup and Rear Admiral The trophies were presented by Anthony Whetstone (president of Shipmate Alan Robinson, Area the Submariners Association).

Also present were family and

Cambridge

CLOSURE came for Barnes,

Mitcham branch's trophy for

Hanworth

The

Shipmate Gillian Dutton-Burden, standing down in favour of

friends of PO/Tel Dufty, one of

Royal Artillery, the Royal British Legion and RNA branches.

Manager,

Stamp Centre Ltd, 9 Sussex Street, Cambridge, CB1 1PA.

In Brief

Around the Branches organised by the branch for the crew of the wartime submarine HMS Tigris.

The Tigris, adopted by Newbury during Warship Week in 1942, was sunk with all hands in February of the following year.

The service at St Nicholas

port of Athens Sent to us by the secretary of Derby branch of the RNA, Shipmate Richard Bannister, the painting shows the surrender of the

they

Enigma codes from a U-boat.

vice chairman, National Council member and ceremonial officer.

at the annual general meeting.

Founder member and Korean

16 years,

was

elected

Shipmate of the Year.

The branch looks forward to celebrating its 25th anniversary in

September.

Wigston & District After a dance attended by 150 members and guests, shipmates

took a a weekend break in

Free Internet for the Navy NOW!

Exmouth, visiting the Commando Training Centre Lympstone during their stay.

They also visited Sidmouth and held a social in their hotel with

who

The

replaces

Shipmate

Jack

chairman, Shipmate F.

Shipmate John Bradbury at the

general

meeting

of

Southend-on-Sea branch. Shipmate Dcrck Dawson was elected president and Shipmate John

Dodd vice chairman.

Whitstable

WHEN Shipmate Peter Cooke,

On behalf of the branch vice chairman Shipmate Freddie Flint presented £100 to the local branch of the Royal National Lifeboat

overwhelmed by the welcome.

Institution for picture frames for the RNLI's new boat house.

Norwich chairman, and his wife visited Cape Town they were

ABOUT 90 shipmates attended Ferndown's annual general meeting.

PICTURE PUZZLE

shipmates from Exmouth. On their way home they lunched at Bourton-on-the-Water and visited

Fed up with waiting for S L O W connections? When you dial into Mi I Net UK, your call is terminated on a modem in Telehouse in London, at the very centre of the Internet

the Royal British Legion club

Visitwww.milnet.uk.net

lucky they were to have their own

Our service is tailor made for servicemen/women, there is no compulsory sign up* - we do not wish to knuw your name and address. (We know you are rightly nervous about giving your personal details to strangers).

Bromley Branch chairman, Shipmate Denis Ward, reminded members at their annual general meeting how meeting place filled with memorabilia, with a well-run bar, a hardworking committee, and ladies willing to provide 'eats'.

The branch meets at 7.30 on the

Our service is available to all members of the UK armed forces (serving and retired), their families and friends Every minute one of our subscribers is on-line will contribute towards a donation to service charities

MilNetUK can be used from home or from work Every subscriber will have • Unlimited Internet access • Unlimited e-mail addresses using a choice of domains (incl yourname@royal.navy.org.uk • Up to 5 Mb free web space ;•-'.'; • Access our help lines

•

there.

Support for all modem standards, including ISDN (64k and 128k)

There are 3 ways to get on line.

• Send for our FREE CD which contains a host of software (eg IE ver 5, Outlook, etc), and is easy to install, (see below for details of where to write to) • Visit our Website (www.milnet.uk.net) and download our Connection Wizard program.

• If you are running Windows 95 or 98, you already have all the software you need, read the small print below and get started on MilNetUK today. (Detailed instructions on how to setup Win95/98 are also on our web site) • In order for you to have access to our helpline and for us to allocate your free e-mail addresses, we must issue

you with a customer number and password (We choose the number, you choose the password)

first Friday of each month at the Sea Cadet HQ, TS Narvik, on Bromley Common. Recruits are welcome, especially post-war sailors and Wrens, and are offered a free tot on their first visit. Details from Shipmate Bob Puttick on 020 84624184.

South Bristol Major changes were made at the annual general meeting, with the president, Shipmate Cdr Peter Maddocks, and the chairman,

Gallipoli service THE ANNUAL memorial service to commemorate those who died when the Royal Naval Division's Collingwood Battalion landed at Gallipoli in June

1915, will be held at 3pm on June 1.

attend the service by the trustees of the battalion war memorial, its president, and

The small print. If you wish lo use our system to be connected to the internet straight away, please read the details below, if you need further assistance or

members of Blandford branch

help, please send for our FREE CD which has details of our helplines or visit our website. Our access number is 0845-6389845. In Windows 95/98 Dial up

of the RNA. The chaplain

Networking you need to set up the usemame to "guest" (without the quotes) and password to "guest" (also without the quotes). After connecting to the internet, please visit our website at http://www.milnet.uk.net to register you e-mail address(s) and for further information.

MMNet.UK is a private linrited Company run by retired service personnel. For free CD write to MilNetUK, PO Box 4111, Blandford Dorset, DT11 7YH, and quote ref NN1

March issue was of the Canadian aircraft carrier HMCS Bonaventure arriving at Portsmouth for trials.

She was correctly identified

by Mr M. W. Cox of Bristol, who also answered the other part of the question, giving the ship's name as HMS Powerful when she was built for the Royal Navy in 1945-46. Mr Cox's

answer was drawn at random and wins £30. This month we increase our prize money to £50 for this snip's name. One

of

Name .

Address.

HMS

Collingwood, the Rev Graham Roblin, will conduct the service at the memorial at the entrance to Blandford Camp, a mile north of Pimperne village on the A354 BlandfordSalisbury road.

clue: while her name is reminiscent of one of Macbeth's victims, she was in fact named after a famous Royal Navy captain.

Complete the coupon and send it to Mystery Picture. Navy News, HMS Nelson, Portsmouth PO1 3HH. Coupons giving

correct answers will go into a prize draw to establish a winner.

Closing date for entries is June 15.

More than one entry can be submitted, but photocopies cannot be accepted. Do not include anything else in your envelope: no correspondence can be entered into and no entry returned.

The winner will be announced in our July edition. The competition is not open

to Navy News employees or their families.

MYSTERY PICTURE 75

Shipmates, their families

and friends are invited to We also author web sites, register domains, and host them on our servers. (Info, e-mail jim@milnet.uk)

OUR MYSTERY picture in the

My answer.

www. navynews. co. uk

NAVY NEWS, MAY 2001 27

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Association

RNA forges links with OEMS plaque to go back USS Churchill to President THANKS to the initiative of Ballymena branch, the RNA has forged early links with the first US Navy ship to be named after Britain's greatest war leader.

Among the gifts presented to the USS Winston S. Churchill on her commissioning was an RNA plaque and letter of comradeship.

They were presented to the destroyer's Commanding Officer, Cdr Mike Franken, by the Mayor of Ballymena, Cllr James Currie, who had been

• Shipmate Neil Hamilton of Ballymena and PRO of No 12 Area, presents the RNA plaque and letter to the Mayor of Ballymena, who later (right) presented it to the CO of the USS Winston S. Churchill in Norfolk, Virginia.

Picture (above): Ballymena Times

National Conference preview

Sea graves: 50 branches urge action Chatham is offering to

host 2003 event

CHATHAM is bidding to host

the RNA's National Conference in 2003, their motion to this year's conference being supported by their neighbours in Maidstone.

Delegates from Wethcrby arc more interested in marking the bicentenary of the Battle of Trafalgar in 2005 with a change of timing for the conference. They will ask that the conference date be moved in that year, so as to be held as close as possible to the 200th anniversary on October 21.

Venue of the meeting is the concern of Tcnbury Wells members who want the National Council to investigate the possibility of holding the conference at a holiday camp each year. Their motion is supported by West Bromwich.

Ipswich, backed by Wells, proposes that delegates receive a comprehensive programme and

briefing material for every conference.

STRONG pressure by the Royal Naval Association to protect sea graves against pillage by divers will be called for by delegates to the RNA National Conference at Clacton-on-Sea in June.

by Shipmate Joan Kelly

New bid to widen full membership A RENEWED bid is being made to persuade the RNA to accept RFA and Merchant Navy personnel as full members.

At the RNA National Conference in June. Liss branch supported by Portsmouth will propose that the organisation's rules be chai hanged by next year to accept, as full members, MN people who had served alongside the RN in any conflict, as well as serving and former members ot the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.

Despite repeated attempts in the past to extend full membership, the RNA National Conference delegates have blocked the moves, seen by many as diluting the character of the organisation.

However, with membership falling due mainly to the lack of young recruits, many other members of the Association see the full acceptance of non-RN mariners as one way of building up the numbers.

Although the RNA currently accepts a wide range of non-RN

A motion which has the backing of more than 50 branches in No 4 (South-West) Area proposes that the Association's National Council

roots support for an uncompromising stance by the RNA, the leadership - as reported in our March edition - is concerned about how measures can be enforced.

ate members, it does not extend

take steps to press for the full implementation of the Military Remains Act 1986 so that all Naval sea graves be designated as controlled sites within the meaning of the Act.

It is expected that the issue will

lead to lively debate at the conference to be held on June 22-23.

full membership to such people.

Currently, associate members canelected to the main committees of a branch.

Meanwhile, Wigston branch

Proposed by Newton Abbot branch and seconded by Wells, the motion urges that an exclusion area of at least 100 metres be established around the sites for 100 years from the time of the loss of the vessels or aircraft.

While there is very strong grass-

notice that it is an 'interested party' in respect of the consultative document launched in February by the Ministry of Defence to invite views

on what practical steps could be

Meanwhile the RNA has given

taken to protect the graves.

HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse Survivors Association is also expected to debate the issue at their annual reunion at Scarborough on May 19-21.

• A diver's view - page 6

Test case' call over pensions A CALL for the RNA to support and fund a test case to gain preserved pension rights for all Naval personnel who served in 1949-75 will be made at the National Conference.

Blackpool & Fylde branch, supported by Fleetwood are urging the

campaign on behalf of those who served less than 22 years.

Preserved pensions were introduced, under certain circumstances, for Forces personnel who had fewer than 22 years service on April 1, 1975. But the measure was not backdated.

invited to the ship's commissioning on March 10.

The plaque was handed to Cllr Currie before he left by Shipmate Neil Hamilton, PRO of the Association's No 12 Area covering Northern Ireland and Eire.

Cdr Franken established his links with Northern Ireland last year when he visited Lame and the Slemish Mountain.

His ship is due to make its first visit to Britain when it takes part in the International Festival of the Sea at Portsmouth in August.

personnel and veterans as associ-

not vote at branch meetings or be

supported by Spalding is proposing that associates should be elect-

ed to the main committees provid-

ed full or life members remain in the majority. And the City of Ely branch, with support from Soham & District, want an amendment which gives associates the right to vote on internal matters at branch meetings.

The last time the Conference was asked to vote for a change in membership rules was in 1997.

Enfield branch, supported by Gloucester, proposed a special category of membership for nonRN personnel, the aim being to open up full membership to MN. RFA and Royal National Lifeboat Institution veterans and serving personnel.

Despite arguments that such a move would enrich and extend the life of the RNA, the motion was defeated overwhelmingly.

SHIPMATE John Oldham, Nottingham RNA Club president, has been chosen to present a plaque commemorating World War II DBMS gunners to the First Sea Lord.

Admiral Sir Nigel Essenhigh will accept it on May 22 during HMS President's ceremonial divisions at the Tower of London. The plaque will he erected in President, the RNR's London training establishment.

It was originally unveiled on hoard the R N V R ship HMS President on the Thames in 1946.

During the war the vessel was used to train Navy men who manned the guns in Defensively Equipped Merchant Ships (DEMS).

When President was sold in 1987 (she is now a floating restaurant) the plaque was placed in the care of the RNA's Hanworth hraneh. Shipmate Oldham, a former DEMS gunner himself, is presenting the plaque as the only memhcr of the original unveiling party who could he located.

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The Society is dedicated to providing high standards of service, and has recently embarked on an extensive modernisation programme which includes the construction at Banstead of a brand new nursing and residential home for 56 residents, plus 22 newly built or refurbished sheltered housing units.

The cost of this development will be close to j£3 million and it will strain our resources. Please help us with a gift if you possibly can, or,

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www. navynews. co. uk

NAVY NEWS, MAY 2001

Drafty; Fleet Air Ann, Hegulafing and PT

Harrier squadrons spread their wings

^•HE MOVE of Naval I Headquarters under I 'Fleet First' and the relocation of the Sea Harrier Squadrons will have considerable impact on the Fleet Air Arm in the near future.

Warrant Officers.........................................Cdr Nigel Cowley 2125 Aircrewman, A/C Handlers, A/C Controllers, METOCs, Photographers, SEs, Regulators, PTs... Lt Cdr John Beavis 2049 All FAA Technical Ratings Small Ships Flights-Lt Cdr 'JJ' Moyle Small Ships Flights, METOCs, Office Manager..........CPOAEA(M) 'Jess' Jessop 2144.

ACs, Senior AHs, Senior SEs.....POWWTR Julie Rutherford 2134 Regulators, PTs, Photographers...........POWTR Neil Ingram 2969 Junior AHs, Junior SEs ..........................AEM1 Jason Boyle 2274 FAA Technical S/Rs (L&R Trades)..POWWTR Doreen Towers 2065 FAA Technical S/Rs (M Trades)...........POWWTR Claire Harris 2124 FAA Technical Leading Rates............LWWTR Sarah Marchant 2358 FAA Technical Able Rates...........................LWTR Daz Dinsdale 2123 Office Administration...................................Mrs Jane Campbell 2274

For FAA personnel, the most significant impact will be in the move of the Sea Harrier community to East Anglia

(Cottesmore/Wittering) and it will certainly bring about a greater emphasis on aircraft

We have had a recent change at the top as Cdr Nigel Cowley took over as D3 Drafting Commander at Christmas. He is the first aircrew officer to hold the post for some time and brings almost 30 years of FAA experience to the business of drafting, having seen service in small ship's flights, shore based squadrons and

type in drafting matters.

Naturally, it will not just be the Squadrons that will be relocating,

they will take with them the necessary operational and engineering support currently located at Yeovilton.

Scheme of Complement changes are being created showing exactly which jobs will be moving from Yeovilton and to refine exact-

ly when those moves will occur.

The latest news is that both support staff and the Squadrons will move in two phases, one in the spring and one in the summer of 2003.

One vital aspect of this work is

to ensure enough second-line bil-

CVSs, as well as Air Station and Headquarters staffs.

lets are created to go with those in the front-line. As ever, the key to

• On a more general note, the developing work surrounding the

success will be good communication and the Drafting Desks will be

move of Fleet Headquarters towards the waterfront under the

doing their utmost to make the move go as smoothly as possible.

'Fleet First" initiative will inevitably

Volunteers with or without

and Reg billets.

These mostly impact at Warrant Officer or Senior Rate, but there will also be some changes for other rates. The dates of the moves will

Harrier experience are encouraged to update their DPF or submit a

C240 to ensure we are aware of their aspirations.

June 9th & 1Oth 1 O am tO 5 pm

HMS Sulta

O 'The Kangaroo Kid' Quad Bike Stunt Display O Mounted Games Association of GB GVCC Field Gun Competition : QRN Raiders Parachute Display Team '•Honda Goldwings Falconry Display

require relocation of some FAA

899

vary from job to job but the process will start in April 2002.

• Drafting of Lynx Flights is getting back on track following the rotor-head cracking problem.

The majority of personnel, whose initial flight drafts were cancelled, have now been nominated to new flights. Those of you who, although not yet nominated, were

anticipating a flight can now expect WARNING OUT/PJT draft orders in the very near future.

The majority of the Lynx community affected by the 'recovery plan' have had drafting action

delayed by nine to twelve months.

Most people in the training

pipeline at the outset of Lynx flight restructuring continued with their SAMCOs/PFE etc, eventually finding themselves drafted into the suspended flight billets for a short

period until permanent drafts became available.

The suspended flight PQs have been re-designated SHOR and the

desks are now drafting personnel who have completed their flight time into these billets. Lynx flight M3/LR2s can expect an eighteenmonth draft. However, in some circumstances an extension may be

necessary for operational reasons or in some cases to allow AEMs the chance of completing deployments.

"Do we add a vet in case the bug infects Crustacea too?"

Please note though, in order not to disadvantage personnel who arc

waiting for their flight drafts, requests for individual extensions cannot always be satisfied.

As this issue of Navy News arrives in your Unit, a Drafting and

Career Management Liaison Office (DCMLO) is due to open at both Culdrose and Yeovilton.

A FAA Warrant Officer and a General Service CPO will man them. DCMLOs have already been established in Devonport, Portsmouth and Faslane and have proved to be extremely popular.

Working closely with the MACCOs, and led by highly experienced Warrant Officers, they are Drafty's 'shop windows' and offer a balance between the needs of the Service and the individual, and

complement the Divisional System and Drafting Desks here at Centurion.

They have direct access to the Naval Manpower Management Information System (NMMIS) and will be able to offer unbiased draft-

Situations vacant CPOAEA(R) Two shore billets at Portsmouth, ES AIR MASU,

Deputy

Project

Leader (Merlin) required March 2002 for 24 months.

CPOAEA(M) for the CHFHQ. A sea billet based at Yeovilton, SMR, required from January 2002 for 27 months.

POAEM(M) or (R) for HMS Raleigh. A shore billet at Torpoint.

Apprentice Divisional Instructor.

Required from October for 24 months.

ing guidance and career management advice to ratings of every branch.

Personal focus, local knowledge and the detailed information available to DCMLOs ensure that one-to-one interviews give the very

best advice to you.

Service children on stage at famous Italian theatre WENTY children of personnel serving with British Forces in Naples have had the unforgettable experience of appearing on stage in one of the most famous theatres in Italy.

T

The Theatre of San Carlo was staging Benjamin Britten's production of Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' and as the chorus was to be sung in English the Service Children's School at Lago Patria was approached for help.

After an exciting round of auditions, twenty youngsters were chosen to perform alongside the Italian children from several Neapolitan schools and they began daily rehearsals which went on for almost three weeks.

The production ran for five nights and the children, who were dressed as elves and fairies, helped to make sure that the performances were a great success.

In a letter to Francesco Canessa, the

Admiral John Lippiett, said: "The production of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' has provided a unique opportunity to affirm the friendship between families of the British Military Community living in Naples and the Teatro di San Carlo.

"In view of the strong links established following the Second World War when the superintendent of

the theatre was a serving British officer, it is especially appropriate to recognise this relationship today and look forward to co-operation in the future.

"By permitting 20 children from the British Forces School to take part in the chorus, the theatre has allowed them to cover elements of their school curriculum such as drama, music and dance in a way that is not normally possible.

"Working alongside the professional artists on stage was an unforgettable experience, allowing them to benefit enormously from their residence in Italy. At the same time, the children have greatly enriched the theatre's production with their chorus of English voic-

Superintendent of the Fondazione Teatro di San

es and enhanced the overall staging of English opera

Carlo, the Senior British Officer in Naples, rear

in Naples."

• SULTAN Fete Fun Fair Sideshows • Steam Fair Car Show Free Parking • Bar Facilities sponsored by GREENE KING with live entertainment • The Gang Plank Club, featuring Pirates Cove

Admission : Adults Children [under i4)/OAPs Family Ticket

on the day

in advance

£3. SO £1.5O E9.OO

£3.DO £1.00 £7.50

(Additional Children C1.OO)

Advance Tickets on sale at The News shops for information tel: O23 9254 2277 Foot and Mouth epidemic : ALL dogs except Guide dogs are banned ______

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By t trxl permission of Comma! ore P J Kwlner Royal Naw All proceeds to Local and Novai

• CHORUS: Children from the British Service Children's School at Lago Patria on stage at the San Carlo theatre. The little elves and fairies sang in the chorus of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream.'

www.navynews.co.uk

NAVY NEWS, MAY 2001

Options

Type 45 project forges

ahead S

HIPYARDS in England and Scotland must start cutting steel for the first of a dozen new Royal Navy destroyers in just two years time.

And the Type 45 destroyer project team has forged ahead with the award of multi-million pound contracts for major systems at the heart of the new warship which will provide the Navy's anti-air warfare capability well into the 21st Century.

The Combat Management System in the first three Type 45 destroyers is to be supplied by a joint team from BAE Combat and

Radar

Systems (CaRS) and

Alcnia Marconi Systems (AMS) in a deal worth £50 million.

Between them, the two companies already supply the combat management systems for the

Royal Navy's Type 42 destroyer and Type 23 frigate and to ships in service in more than 20 other

nations around the world including Korea and Malaysia.

The same team has been chosen to supply the Data Transfer System which will use a triple

redundant Fast Ethernet network to relay the vast array of information gathered by sensors to weapons and command systems around the ship.

Thales Communications and BAE Systems Avionics have won a

£38 million three-ship contract to supply the fully integrated communication system (FICS) which includes the provision of satellite TV and e-mail access for every member of the ship's company.

Northrop Grumman RollsRoyce has landed an £84-million order for 12 WR21 engines for the first six Type 45 destroyers.

The advanced cycle marine gas turbine engines will drive generators which, in turn, will power

huge electric propulsion motors to be supplied to the first three ships

by Alstom Power Conversion Ltd for £40 million.

Raytheon has won a £12 million order for a state-of-the-art

be supplied by Litton Marine Systems, supported by Rockwell Automation.

BAE Systems is the Prime Contractor for the Type 45 and

Brian Phillipson is the managing director of the programme.

He said: "The principal systems

of a modern warship are the key to its performance.

"Selection at an early stage of the programme

ensures that performance, delivery and cost criteria

• TYPE 45: The destroyer will have a top speed of 27 knots and a range of 5,000 miles. One of many innovations in the ship will

be a radically different layout in the operations room with new consoles (right) which enable operators to tap in to any of the ship's systems, including communications and damage control.

Aster missiles have superb

lateral acceleration and with inflight guidance from the jamming resistant Sampson radar, a turn-

ing platform with two faces and directable

beams,

and

the

S1850M Long Range Radar from

Alenia Marconi Systems, the ship can be met. This is crucial will have a world-beating air given the Type 45's defence system.

demanding in-Service date

In the future, the Type 45

of 2007 and tight budget constraints.

destroyer could be required to carry longer, strike-length land

"I am delighted to welcome these suppliers on to the Type 45

attack missiles or a bigger gun than the medium calibre Mark 8

team. All have had to meet the demanding performance requirements which will deliver the cutting-edge capability which the Royal Navy requires.

"In addition, this is the first time selections have been made on the basis of through life costs and the ability to accommodate flexibility and growth for the lifetime of the ship."

The main weapon system on board the Type 45 destroyer, the

Mod 1 gun which will be installed

in the first of class, so the potential to accommodate these upgrades is being built in to the

design of the warship.

At 7,200 tonnes, the Type 45 will be the largest destroyer ever operated by the Royal Navy. One of the many advantages of a bigger ship is that better accommodation can be provided for all on board, and junior ratings stand to gain the most with more storage

Principal Anti-Air Missile System (PAAMs) was ordered separately

and recreation space than ever before.

by the Defence Procurement Agency in 1999 when Britain withdrew from the international

by both BAE Systems Marine and

destroyer project 'Horizon' and opted for a national programme

instead.

The PAAMS Command and

Each new batch will incorporate upgrades in capability as technology matures and funding is made available, and the two shipyards will also compete for contracts to back-fit improvements to earlier Type 45s.

The Prime Contract Office is currently studying a sonar package from TMSLand a range of other contracts covering electronic surveillance measures, the meteorological and oceanographic system, Identification Friend or Foe, generators and an electro-optic gun control system is expected to be issued in the next few months.

HMS Daring, the first ship of the class, will be built in sections Vosper Thornycroft for launch in 2005 and an in-Service date of 2007.

Vosper Thornycroft will build

navigation system.

And the Type 45 Platform Management System, which will

Control System and the Sampson

the second ship and BAE Systems

Marine will construct the third,

provide machinery control, surveillance, and vital damage control data to every part of the ship, is to

Multi-function Radar will use a Sylvcr Vertical Launch System with 48 Aster homing missiles to defend the ship, other vessels and ground forces from air attack.

nine ships, which will be ordered in three batches.

putting both shipyards in a position to bid for the remaining

Get updated...

Get the facts. L. /

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'i}° :)!'^-'>

__\

••———s

•Edinburgh

.navynews.co.UK

^Liverpool

^

V

Get Online./.

S

I nnrtaff

www.navynews.co.uk • TYPE 45: The destroyer will provide the backbone of the Royal Navy's air defence capability well into the 21st Century. The first ship of the class, HMS Daring, is due to enter Service in 2007.

29

30

www. navynews. co. uk

NAVY NEWS, MAY 2001

Options

At Your Leisure

STAMP COLLECTING is a popular pastime for Navy types, but postcards are also worth investigating.

The golden age of postcards was the Edwardian era, since it only cost a halfpenny to send a card then, while letters cost a whole penny. As many as 860 million were mailed each year, compared with a mere 100 million today.

Most of them featured comic situations of all sorts - and many of them had sailors in the central role, since this period also marked the high point of the Royal Navy's role as the power behind the Empire.

The examples shown here come from the collection of David Watkins, of Bangor, Gwynedd.

They are not easy to find these days, he says, but are worth searching for as many can be bought for around £5. Details of dealers and fairs are published in the magazine Postcard Monthly, published in Nottingham.

OH WHAT A CARD YOU ARE, JACK!

Stamps mark a century of British submarines HOLLAND 1, the Royal Navy's

first submarine, formed the backdrop for the launch of the Royal Mail's stunning set of

stamps marking the centenary of the RN Submarine Service while HMS Vengeance, latest of the Trident missile boats,

staged a photo-shoot for them near her base on the Clyde.

Flag

Officer

Submarines

Rear Admiral Rob Stevens was joined by Thomas Gould, one of the Service's 14 VCs, and Hugh Smith, at 96 believed to be the RN's oldest submariner, for the launch party at the RN

Submarine Museum, Gosport.

Here the Holland boat, which

sank on her way to the breaker's yard off the Eddystone Light in 1913 and was salvaged by the Royal Navy in 1982, was

displayed on completion of a

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radical conservation project.

For the past three-and-a-half years she has been immersed in alkaline solution to remove the chlorides found to be

steadily corroding the hull.

Last year, with the help of cash from the National Heritage Lottery Fund and BAE Systems, the Museum began work on a purpose built gallery

and interpretation area, to be opened

by

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Mountbatten on May 24.

•

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ship's

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Vengeance show off the new stamps at Clyde Naval Base.

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www. navy news. co. uk Options

NAVY NEWS, MAY 2001

31

At Your Leisure ANDREW'S EPIC VOYAGES In May 1953 the submarine HMS Andrew arrived at Portland having completed a 2,500 mile voyage from Bermuda totally submerged.

HMS Andrew was the last British submarine to carry a deck gun, now preserved in the RN Submarine Museum at Gosport.

In 1958 the Andrew had a leading role in On the Beach, Stanley Kramer's bleak film of the world ending not with a bang but with a whimper as nuclear fallout slowly edges south to Australia.Taken from the novel by Nevil Shute, it starred Gregory Peck as the CO of USS Sawfish.

The Andrew also had the distinction of being the first vessel to fly the new 49-starred US flag - the State of Alaska did not come into being for another five months, so this was at least one authentic piece of prophecy.

The picture is taken from The Royal Navy at Portland 1900-2000 by Geoffrey Carter (Maritime Books £14.95), the first in a series of photo albums featuring the activities of the Royal Navy at its bases at home and abroad.

Submarine souffle rises again

Double take on the famous 'Old Lady' HMSWARSPITE was arguably the most famous British battleship of the 20th century.

Winning more battle honours than any other comparable ship, she was in the thick of the action in both world wars. She played a pivotal role in the Battle of Jutland and later fought at Narvik against the Germans, against the Italians at Cape Matapan and against the Japanese in the Indian Ocean.

Badly damaged by one of the first guided missiles the German FX1400 radio-controlled bomb - she survived to carry out bombardment duties off Normandy and Walcheren.

Evidence of the continued fascination she exerts comes with the publication of two new books about her - both told through the eyes of the men who sailed in her.

Warspite (Leo Cooper £19.95), by lain Ballantyne in the Warships of the Royal Navy series, is particularly strong on pictures, many previously unpublished, and has an interesting account of the career of her successor, the nuclear-powered submarine launched in 1965.

Like the battleship of 1913, the Cold War submarine contained many innovations, including being the first British Naval vessel to rely entirely on gyroscopes rather than a magnetic compass.

ScreenScene

In 1983 she completed a record-breaking patrol of 112 days, 88 of them submerged. Her CO, Cdr Jonathan Cooke, has now revealed: "All we had left in our deep freeze was a trio of lonely herrings and a couple of lemons ..."

In Battleship Sailors (Chatham £19.95) Harry Plevy recalls the battleship's captain's impressions as the 3,0001b guided bomb struck her astern of the hangar: "I was not thrown off my feet but for a fraction of a second had a kind of black-out like when you take a hard toss at football or off a horse. But I could see and think perfectly clearly all the time. Black smoke and dirt from the funnel and a hell of a noise. Thought the whole mast was coming down as it rocked, bent and whipped. For a moment I thought we were probably sunk and was quite prepared for the ship to break in two. No one lost their heads or shouted or anything on the bridge. They were all first class and the anti-aircraft guns which had opened fire kept firing. That was good."

Like her people, "The Old Lady" just never knew when to give up. On her way to the breaker's yard in 1947, she broke free of her tugs and ran aground in Prussia Cove, Cornwall. It would be several years before her remains were to disappear from her last resting place.

- by Bob Baker

RELEASED in paperback to mark the RN Submarine Service's centenary, John Winton's The Submariners (Constable £12.99) carries the recipe for one of their favourite delicacies - Cheese Oosh.

Distantly related to a cheese souffle, traditionally it should be flat, heavy and more like Yorkshire pudding. For a familysized slab you need: 1 pint of milk 8oz grated Cheddar cheese 4 eggs (powdered or frozen are acceptable 1/2 teaspoon mustard Seasoning 1 tomato (sliced) Beat the eggs until light and frothy. Add the milk. Add cheese, mustard and seasoning. Stir. Pour into a buttered baking dish and cook in a moderate oven until golden brown and set. Garnish with sliced tomato and serve.

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T LAST, a European response to the -ecent crop of Hollywood movies ibout how the USA won World War

A

II. Enemy at the Gates is set dur-

ng the Battle of Stalingrad; it was shot in Germany by a French director using a mostly British cast. The only American prominently involved is the actor Ed Harris, and he plays an officer in the Wermacht.

The film opens full-tilt, plunging its characters (and the audience) straight into the heart of battle, as a new batch of replacements crosses the Volga under bombardment from planes and artillery.

Those who make the far side are immediately hurled into a suicidal assault, with one rifle between two men. Surviving this opening slaughter, Vassili (Jude Law) distinguishes himself as a sharpshooter, and is built up into such a hero and source of inspiration that the Germans bring in their own top sniper expressly to kill him.

The extended duel between the two men is the film's backbone, with a first encounter in a wrecked department store, a series of cat-and-mouse skirmishes in a bombed-out factory, where shards of glass from

the collapsed roof cast dangerous reflections, and a final showdown in the shell of a vast railway station.

These sets, incidentally, look like they cost a fortune to build, and probably did. Elsewhere, though, some of the spectacular battlefield vistas have about them that slightly unreal perspective, that tell-tale flatness indicating that computer-generated technology has been called upon.

Amid all the explosions, blood-letting and general carnage, the picture does find room for a bit of a love story, involving Vassili and one of the girl-soldiers in his unit. Alas, their romance is so dreary and intrusive as to invite the response of any 14-year-old schoolboy: "Soppy love stuff! Bleah! Back to the fighting!"

There is also a cameo role for Bob Hoskins - as Kruschev!

The film ends with a note about the real-life Vassili, mentioning that his rifle can be seen today in the Stalingrad Museum. According to military historians, however, latest research indicates no first-hand evidence that Vassili really existed, and the probability is that the character was a fiction, created by Stalin's propaganda division. Perhaps so. But who could bear to contemplate the butchery, the endless suffering of a Stalingrad without a hero like Vassili for consolation?

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THE ILLUSTRIOUS AND IMPLACABLE CLASSES OF AIRCRAFT CARRIER 1940-1969

By Neil McCart

or the first time in one volume, here are the comprehensive histories of the six fleet aircraft carriers which dominated the Royal Navy's aviation between 1940 and the early 1950s; Illustrious, Formidable, Victorious, Indomitable, Indefatigable and Implacable. The career of each vessel is described in detail, with plenty of photographs. Hardback, with laminated dust jacket.

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Price £23 plus p&p. ISBN 1 901225 04 6 Also Still Available: HMS EAGLE 1942-1978 (Hardback) £18.95 plus p&p HMS VICTORIOUS 1937-1969 (Hardback) £21.00 plus p&p HMS CENTAUR 1943-1972 (Hardback) £16.95 plus p&p THREE ARK ROYALS 1938-1999 (Hardback) £23.00 plus p&p TIGER, LION & BLAKE 1942-1986 (Hardback) £21.50 plus p&p SS CANBERRA 1957-1997 (Hardback) £21.00 plus p&p Please add £2.50 p&p for the UK & EU or £4.00 for worldwide surface mail. Payment by sterling cheque, postal order, or by VISA/MASTERCARD. Telephone/Fax orders welcomed.

From FAN PUBLICATIONS, 17 Wymans Lane, Cheltenham, Glos OL51 9QA. ___ Tel/Fax 01242 580290, or order from good bookshops.

32

www.na vynews. co. uk

NAVY NEWS, MAY 2001

At Your Service

Options

Calling Old Shipmates

Reunions May

Details from Peter Hill, 023 9263 2687, or

Peter

HMS Narvik 1955-59 reunion. May 4.

Rod Jenkins, 33, Paston Ridings, Paston, Peterborough PE4 7UR. tel: 01733 751019.

South Atlantic Medal Association 1982 (SAMA82) reunion/AGM, Oblenski Suite, Twickenham Stadium, before the RN v Army match, May 5. Details: Denzil Connick, 01495 227577, e-mail: densama@aol.com, website: http://www.sama82.org.uk HMS Attacker 879, 886 Squadrons FAA

and ships company, also Carrier Borne Air Liason Sections serving Squadrons 1942-45:

reunion May 10, details: Ray Phillis, 243, Kempshott Lane, Basingstoke RG22 5ND, tel: 01256 321678. SAE please.

HMS Saintes Association reunion and

Ritchie,

01647

24271,

e-mail:

peter.ritchie4@btinternet.com HMS Wensleydale 1942-45 Association reunion, St Margaret's Church, Hawes, Wensleydale. July 8. Comrades of Hunts of 15th D/F welcome. Henry Lehmann, 13, Park Rd, Denmead, Waterlooville PO7 6NE, tel: 023 9225 5495.

MASU Reunion past and present members of the Mobile Aircraft Support Unit (formerly known as MARTSU & NATIU) on July 19.

Contact

Ed

Scott,

MASU,

DARA

Fleetlands, Fareham Rd. Gosport PO13 OAA, tel 023 9254 4520, fax 023 9254 4521,

e-mail masureunion@hotmail.com Seaman Specialist Comrades Association summer function on July 21. Details

AGM. Stretton Hotel, Blackpool, on May 1112. Details from John Harris, Hamoaze, 10a,

from SSCA Secretary. 21. Merrivale Rd,

Beeleigh Link, Chelmer Village, Chelmsford

August

CM2 6PH,

tel: 01245 252569, e-mail:

hamoaze2@netscapeonline.co.uk Annual Stores Branch WOs Symposium and Dinner at HMS Raleigh on May 17. All serving and retired WOSAs invited - retired WOs particularly welcome.

Contact WO S. Houghton on 01752 811514.

HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse Survivors Association reunion at Scarborough, May 18 to 21. Details from Shirley Ward on 01626 773935 or e-mail: seaway@lreenet.co.uk.

Hilsea. Portsmouth PO2 OTJ.

HMS Vidal, Survey Ship, all commissions: reunion on August 4 at the RNA Club, Victoria Rd, Tamworth. Staffs. Contact Dave

Parker. 11a Telferscot Rd. Balham, London SW12 OHW, tel/fax: 020 8673 5392.

HMS Whimbrel U29 Association with all

ships of the British Pacific & East Indies Fleet reunion Aug 31 to Sept 3, Sinah Warren Holiday Village. Hayling Island. Contact I.O.W. Tours on 01983 405116.

September

June Hawke 45 Association HMS Fisgard January 1945 Entry reunion in Bournemouth, June 1-4. Details from Geoff Looker, tel 023 9238 3585. or e-mail:

British Pacific & East Indies Fleets: First weekend September, the forgotten fleets, Sinah Warren. John Darling, 6, Horsley Close, Epsom KT19 8HB. tel/fax: 01372 812023.

Henry Ashby: Would Henry, formerly of HMS Splendid and Revenge, contact 01752 691706 ASAP re surprise birthday party in May for a former shipmate.

HMS Danae: Len Blakemore seeks a photo of HMS Danae's ships company taken in Halifax, Nova Scotia, about April, 1976. Len didn't get a copy Contact him at 15, Priory Rd, Bolton-on-Dearne, Rotherham S63 SAE. David Hamilton served on the Irish Pine/Irish Oak in the 1960s. Evans Onions would like to get in touch. Contact Diz on 020 8681 3493 or e-mail: Dizonions@aol.com served in Triumph in 1950. Contact Victor at

331110, e-mail: simon.rooke@virgin.net

19, Dunton View Dunton Park, Brentwood

HMS Llandaff last commission, 197476: Contact Slinger Wood, ex-Seaman's Mess, on 020 8581 5693, e-mail: fatcon-

CM13 3SX, tel: 01268 490599.

HMS Milne: B. Bacon's father served from 1942-45 and is in contact with many of the crew. If any crew would like to attend their reunion, contact B Bacon, 6 Stratton Drive, Barking IG11 9HJ.

FAA Yeovilton: John W. Wood seeks old friend lan Reed (Read), formerly of Southport (1950s). In the 60s he was in the Fleet Air Arm at Yeovilton. John moved to Canada in '57. E-mail jwoods@telus.net, or write to 4301, Macaulay Rd, Black Creek, BC, Canada V9J 1E1.

Paul Jones: Tony Atkinson, who served in the Andrew 1966-1990, retiring as a

SO15 5DH, tel: 023 8032 3853.

naventryid=100

detachment in early 1953 from the Falklands

Lima Company 42 Cdo RM 1982 reunion will be held in June 2002. Contact Tony Sickelmore, 01752 504067, or email:

to Deception Island and Antartica, returning via South Georgia to Port Stanley. Contact

arcticrambler@hotmail.com COMIBERLANT:

Ex-WO

Dave Kelly

seeks anyone serving at COMIBERLANT from Nov 1971 - Nov 1973 regarding a

reunion to celebrate the NATO base's 30 years. Contact Dave at 14, Justin Close, Fareham PO14 1SY, tel: 01329 511370, email: daveandmaria 1@the1reeinternet.co.uk HM Submarine Courageous: G. Cooke

HMS Snipe: Former RM Ron Smith seeks shipmates who helped convey his RM

Ron at 5, Summergate St, Halifax HX1 3QF. HMS Churchill 1987: Steven 'Nick' Nicholson, please contact Nigel 'Mick' Channon on 01436 676086.

HMS Delight, 1965-67 commission: Calling ex-stokers re possible reunion.

Contact Ivan (Monty) Banks, 01922 403878, e-mail: ivan..@tinyonline.co.uk, Les Stokes (01256 702260). Jim Waite (01772 467934).

HMS Ganges 1950, 148 Class, Benbow Division. Instructors PO Salmon and POGI

has contacted several mates Courageous of 25 years ago, and plans a reunion for all excrew members. Anyone who served in Courageous should contact him at St Marys

Hider: Would anyone from that class please contact Alan Wallis, 107, Low Road. Burwell, Cambs CBS OEJ. tel: 01638 741545, or e-

Cottage, High St. Ripley, Surrey GU23 6AE.

mail: alaniohnwallis@aladdenscave.net

e-mail: newbridge.view@virgin.net S.H. Stephens went into 1st Guards

e-mail: chascooke @btinternet.com

Brigade, Grenadier Guards, during WWII, his

the whereabouts of Brum Worley or 'Shags' O'Shaughnessy? Contact Nick 'Skid' Rowe by e-mail sophieverney@eurobell.co.uk

John Ward: Sharkey Ward seeks the cooks who served with him in HMS Pembroke, joined May 58, Neptune 59, Veralum 60, Osprey 61, Victorious 61, Ganges 61-62, Cambrian 62-64. Contact Sharkey at Box 1125, Sparwood, BC, Canada VOB 2GO, e-mail: eiid@tilanlink.com HMS Newcastle, Southlant 93: lain Frederick seeks mates from 3Q Mess, Andrew Jackson, Spider Webster, Neil Cassidy (WE Ratings). Contact lain at 3,

two friends went into the Navy. He would like to contact H. George Lovell (KX163944) and Roy Hogarth (JX552312) or their families.

Contact S.H. Stephens, 44, Quick Avenue,

Aramoho, Wanganui, New Zealand.

HMS Narvik: Seeking Henry Cammell, Arthur Evans, David Grant, Mr Imrie, Lt Olaf

HMS Arrow 1986-87: Does anyone know

HMS Conqueror: Simon (Slim) Bodmer

seeks all who served in Conqueror 1975 in the Med, through Chatham refit, up to end of 1977. Russ Graham is in contact, also Gary Stevens, who seeks his best man, Jimmy

Mihalop, Brian Peters, Charles Small, K.R. Forster, George Harbron, Mr Judd, Lt Oakley,

Silk, Andy Knox and Alan Pillefent. Contact

Poplar

Florida, seeks Paul Jones (PAJ), ex-PO(R).

Anyone else who recalls Tony from St Vincent (66), Dryad, Glamorgan (67-68), Hardy (69-70), Blake, Apollo, Rooke, 826 NAS (HC) or anywhere else, contact him at 13614, Crystal River Drive, Orlando, FL.

Surg Lt Read. Willy Spong and Alby Hurlock, from St Mary's Cray, Kent. Contact Rod Jenkins, 33 Paston Ridings, Paston, Peterborough PE4 7UR. tel: 01733 751019.

846 Squadron: Seeking ex-846 Squadron Senior Rates for September reunion. Contact

Simon at 01795 422768 or 07970 940520, or

32828 USA, e-mail: thebrit66@hotmail.com HMS Solebay: Malcolm Clarke seeks

CPO

RNAS

sion: Tony Charles seeks his old going

Yeovilton, llchester BA22 8HT, tel: 01935

ashore oppo Brian Wilkinson and anyone else from that time. Contact Tony Charles on 01903526707, e-mail: atcharles@cwctv.net LST and Landing Craft Association (NW Region) meet every two months at the

Rotherham S64 8LS, tel: 07939 386286, or e-mail: iainfred@bushinternet.com HMS Hecate: Simon Steggles and Billy Ironside served in HMS Hecate 86-89. Billy marries in June and they seek Dave Simpson, lan Luke and 'Bomber' Mills. The stag do will be in the form of a mess dinner.

Contact Simon on 07973 210895 or e-mail: simon@1ct.com HMS Khedive Association welcomes anyone who served in HMS Khedive, Ship's Company, 808 Sqn, 899 Sqn, 1700 Sqn. Details from Bob Evans, 40, Merrick Rd, Wednesfield, Wolverhampton WV11 3NZ,

FRIENDS OF WAR MEMORIALS

addressed to - The Editor. Navy News, HMS Nelson. Portsmouth.

P01 3HH or email: erJit<Snavynews.co.uk. If you are sending your notice in via email,

please include your full address and telephone number.

• Reunions appear in date order, and requests to place an entry in a

on: 00800 76 76 77 77 (free from the UK & Germany) Or drop into your local NAAFI Financial Centre

trollerSO@aol.com or the old Club Swinger Ken (George) Rutherford on 0191 346641, or

Place, Christchurch 8007, NZ, e-mail denisnbroadbent@xtra.co.nzot see website http://communities. msn. co. nz/HMSChaplel&

CPO(OPS)(R), now living and working in

July

financial

HMS Fife, 3p Mess, 1984-86: Kev Budd,

old Korean War pal L/Stoker John Dent; they

HMS Triumph: Victor Lockwood seeks

October

NAAFI X -

HMS Fleetwood: Seeking ex-crew for

reunion. Contact Keith (Yorkie) Rayner. tel: 01642 281392, e-mail: krayner@ntlworid.com or Frank (Darby) Alien on 0116 238 6715.

Steve Hughes, Andy Gray, Wayne Brunning, contact Simon Rooke, Warren House, Church Rd, Warton, Tamworth. Staffs, tel: 01827

Boom Defence Ratings: The next geott@tooker. demon, co. uk 'Boomers' convention is on September 21-23 Tubby May, Nobby Clarke (US), Sid Durbin RN Regulating Branch (93)at Scarborough. Contact Alf on 01302 and anyone else who served aboard. The Association invite all serving and ex811898 or Lance on 01723 369798. association wishes to hear from you. Contact Regulators and guests to a night out with HMS Morecambe Bay Association 164, Southmead Rd, Bristol BS10 5DR, or eShep Woolley, GIs Assn mess, HMS reunion at Burlington Hotel. Eastbourne from mail: malcolm®tosd.demon.co.uk Excellent. June 2. Details: Tony Hadley, 023 September 28 to October 1. Contact Bob Cheshire: Bob celebrates his 50th 9273 8902, e-mail: TON34AVF@aol.com Geoffrey Harrison, 18, Tamella Way, Botley birthday in November, and Jean seeks oppos TS Indefatigable reunion at the old SO30 2NY, tel: 01489 787111. re planned party. He joined Sept '68 at school, June 2. Contact Spencer Bell, 01923 Fast Minelayers Association reunion Fiskgard as an Apprentice S64 (class), then 236705, or Steve Humphries, 01628 850930.

Sept 28-30 at the Adelphi Hotel, Liverpool.

HMS Collingwood, Rothesay, RAE AberHMS Mauritius reunion on June 8-9 at Details: John Lavis, 01323 500882. porth, HMS Fife, Vernon, Dryad, Sheffield, Gateway Hotel, Nuthall Road, Nottingham, FES, HMS Newcastle, Andromeda, Illustrtel: 0115 9794 949: contact the hotel for ious, leaving Nov '91. Contact Jean, 07901 details, or John Hunter on 020 7790 9158.

967445, e-mail: jean.cheshire@ndirect.co.uk HMS Constance reunion on June 9 at Fleet Air Arm Field Gun Association Cook (S) Slinger Wood seeks shipmates RNA Club, Leamington Spa. Details from reunion. Royal Court Hotel, Coventry, Oct 5who served HMS Pembroke 1962, Ark Royal Ken Upsdale on 01795 665248.

6. Details: Jimmy Andrews, 14, Scott Close, 1963-66, Undaunted 1967-68, Portsmouth HMS Glory Association reunion at HMS Stubbington, Fareham PO14 2HD, tel/fax: Field Gun Crew 1969, Danae 1970-72.

Collingwood, June 22-24. Details from B. 01329 664007 or e-mail: faafgun@aol.com; Contact Tony at 60, Stoneywood Rd, Skam, 15, Tenterfields, Great Dunmow, website: http://members.aol.com/faafgun Walsgrave, Coventry CV2 2LL. Essex CM6 1MH, tel: 01371 873106.

OE Mechanician Apprentices, Class 59 Graham (Smudger) Smith and wife EW (Golly) Branch reunion, Senior Rates reunion at the Royal Fleet Club, Devonport, Brenda from Midlands: Graham and Joe Mess. HMS Dryad. July 23 - BBQ and disco, October 5-7. Details from John (Bill) Bailey, Dent served in HMS Carysfort and nuclear for current and retired EW senior rates.

7, Pledwick Crescent, Sandal, Wakefield submarines. Please get in touch with Joe at Details: WO Gilly Gilchrist. EW Chief WF2 6DF, tel: 01924 250600.

16, Menear Rd. St Austell PL25 3DF. Instructor. Lewin Bdng, HMS Dryad, HMS Antrim Association reunion in York Seeking Edward (Ted) Morrell, of the Southwick, Fareham PO17 6EJ, tel 023 9228 from October 5-7. Contact Terry Bullingham Writers branch. Worked in SC Office, RNB 4526, 93835 4526, e-mail: mrew@cwcom.net on 0121 4292428.

Portsmouth, 1948-49, and served on CinC's Russian Convoy Club (West Riding LGC No 47 and WRNS OTC 2/76: Vice staff, HMS SI Angelo, 1953. Last known Branch) reunion, June 27, Eastborough Admiral J. Band and Lt Cdr Pennie Burne address Anlaby Common, Hull. Contact Keith WMC, Battye St, Dewsbury. Details: Cyril (nee Stinchcombe) are organising a dinner Foyston, 34, The Broadway, Hull HU9 3JJ. Gaunt, 5, Moorland Close, Gildersome, for members and partners at BRNC HMS Morecambe Bay 1949-56: Seeking Leeds LS27 7DH, tel 0113 253 0596.

Dartmouth on October 6 or 13. Details from anyone who served in this ship. Contact SCU Leydene WOs & SRs Mess Pennie on 01752 255492 or e-mail Lt Cdr Geoffrey Harrison, 18 Tamella Rd, Botley Summer Ball 2001: June 30, the final SRs Burne at vivid@navynet.gtnet.gov.uk.

SO30 2NY, or tel: 01489 787111.

Ball at Leydene. Open to all personnel who London & Medway RN PTIs annual lunHMS Whirlwind, West Indies have ever been a member of WO & SR cheon in the King Charles Hotel, Gillingham, Guardship 1962-63: Raymond Ayre seeks Mess, Leydene. Tickets are limited, closing Kent, on October 7. Details from Orlando anyone on this commission, including Patrick date May 31. Contact CCCT(A) 'Clinf Jemmett on 01227 263691.

Dazsilver, Dave Court and Pete Spencer.

Eastwood, WO & SR Mess, Ashmore Block, HMS Bruce Register annual reunion at Contact Raymond on 01472 691993.

SCU Leydene. Petersfield GU32 1HE, tel: Scarborough from October 9 to 11. Details Combined Operations Pilotage Party 01730 823616 (cabin) or Leydene 4222. from the Secretary on 0121 532 4058.

No6 (COPP6). John Francis seeks memHMS Duchess Association reunion at bers, including Lt Cdr Amer, PO (Tubby) King Charles Hotel, Gillingham, Kent, Oct 12 Philips, (Pedlar) Palmer, LS (Hunty) Hunt, to 14. Details: Gordon Phipps, 3, Holt Weer Morley, Sappers Jock, Taffy and (Nobby) HMS Londonderry 1981-84 Stokehold Close, Oxford OX2 8NW, tel: 01865 559935.

Clarke. Contact John on 01643 706276.

Association reunion, July 7 in Hambledon.

RN Regulating Branch (93) leuan Llewellyn Thomas, joined RN Association reunion Oct 12-13 at HMS 1950, two weeks after closest friend David Excellent. Details: Butch Crawley, 023 9263 Stanley Jones, who now seeks him. leuan is 9729, ore-mail: Butch101@btinternet.com believed to have served in the Writers HMS Sheffield Association reunion is branch, commisioned and retired after a full from October 12-14 at Babbacombe. Details ~ MARITIME DIVISION career. Contact David at Garden Cottage, 14, from Gordon Buttress at 64, Green Lane, Usk Drive, Gilwern, Abergavenny NP7 OAG. 4a Lower Belgrave St London SW1W OLA Coleshill B46 3LU, tel: 01675 463614.

HMS Glamorgan: Seeking Rick Hay, in www.fowm-maritime.co.uk HMS St Vincent Association, AGM at St Glamorgan, 1986. Contact Joyce Anderson fowm_maritime@hotmail.com Vincent College, Gosport at 1200, and at PO Box 372892, Satellite Beach, Florida reunion at Thorngate Halls, Gosport ,at 1845 Dedicated lo protecting the final resting places of USA or e-mail: psychomutant101@msn.com on October 13. See http://www.hmsstvincenthose who died at sea in the cause of our HMS Slinger 1943-45: Will anyone who tassoc.org or details from Malcolm Smith on served in Slinger 1943-45 contact J.L. freedom, we are keen to make contact with ex023 9258 4498 or M Smith, 109, Fisgard Rd, Michie, 18, The Thicket, Widley, Waterlooville RN sen-icemen who survived war lime sinkings Gosport PO124HG. PO7 5JL, tel: 023 9221 4944. to help us in our work. For further details please HMS Saumarez reunion at the Home Lars Riisdahl: Frank Simms seeks ship, write to the above address. .

Club. Portsmouth, on October 13. Shipmates mates aboard at Tobruk 1941-42 who from the 26th Destroyer Flotilla welcome. escaped and avoided capture in June 1942 Contact M.J. Salter on 01249 712525. when ship was sunk. Some go to Mersa Royal Marine Band Service reunion for f RN SUPPLY OFFICERS' COCKTAIL^ Matru. 'Blondie' and Leonard Carless, where all serving and past members at the "Whaley are you? Contact Frank, PO Box 194, Station PARTY AND BUFFET SUPPER 2001 Club', HMS Excellent, Whale Island on C, Goose Bay, Labrador, Canada. AOP 1 CO. A Cocktail and Buffet Supper Party for October 13. Details from Barry Radford, 1, HMS Ganges 277/8, V/S and WOT classserving and retired Supply Officers Queensway, Wellingborough NN8 3RA, tel: es, 36 Mess, New Covered Way, Feb 193807976 800827. Please include SAE. and partners will be held in the March 39: Instructors YEO Fuller and PO Tel HMS St Brides Bay reunion, Oct 19-21, Meadows: contact G. Thomas, 01803 863445.

Wardroom, HMS NELSON on Friday Harrogate Spa Hotel. Details: Alan Mathieson, Ken 'Gunner' Parkin, started 1967 at 6 July 2001, commencing at 1830.

39. Glebe Rd, Kilmarnock KA1 3DJ, tel: HMS Ganges in Duncan 77, HMS Cleopatra, Cost: £20 per person.

01563572282.

RNH Haslar, Falklands conflict, RNH HMS Diomede Communicators 1971Closing date for applications: Stonehouse, completing service in 1991. All 76 reunion in Eastbourne, October 26-28. those who knew him and would like to attend 18 June 2001.

Contact Brian Wilkinson on 0117 960 2397.

Contact: Lt Grant Lewins, TAXO, 848 NAS 1952-56, The Malaya Formation Demeter Block, HMS RALEIGH, reunion, Oct 27, Bromsgrove. Les Smith, At your Service entries Oakdale, Church Lane, Ashford Carbonell, Torpoint, Cornwall, PL11 2PD. Tel I Notices for this page should be Ludlow SYS 4BX, tel: 01584 831397. .

01752811532 brief, clearly written or typed and

Travel Insurance?

his surprise 50th birthday party on August 25

at the Fleet Club, Devonport, contact Mrs Lobb, 29, Neswick St, Plymouth PL1 5JJ, email: stellabennett831@supanet.com HMS Delight 1960-62: Seeking 'Broc' Brealey or any member of 17 Mess. Contact ex L/Sea Taff Edwards on 01978 821780.

particular edition cannot be guaranteed.

• Please send in Reunions at least three months (preferably four) before the month of the event.

• There may be a delay before items appear, due to the volume of requests.

• Entries are free to non-commercial organisations. Items pertaining to commercial work, books and publications for profit can only appear as paid-for advertising.

• The Editor reserves the right to edit or refuse publication of submitted notices.

• Space does not allow us to accept more than one free insert.

Any subsequent notice will have to be paid for at advertising rates.

Bryant,

846

Sqn

DSMR,

456669, e-mail: stewart.bryant@lineone.com S60 Entry Artificer Apprentice (HMS Collingwood): Roland Attridge seeks class members with a view to a reunion. Contact Roland at 18, Fernlea Way. Dibden Purlieu, Southampton SO45 5SG, tel: 023 8084

9419, e-mail: roland.attridge@ukonline.co.uk HMS Sea Eagle (Brawdy): Roy (Biff) Burton seeks Smokey Mason-Cole, originally from South Kirby, last seen at Sea Eagle.

Contact Roy at 297, Perth Rd, Dundee DD2 US, e-mail: roy.burton@blueyonder.co.uk HMS Chaplet: There is now a website for Chaplet shipmates which includes photographs of Chaplet, Suez Crisis and other places visited by the ship. All ex Chapets are welcome to join the community, also exScorpion men involved in Exercise Mariner 1953. Write to Denis Broadbent at 41, Culver

Riddell. Also in contact: Steve Elliott, Tony

e-mail simon_bodmer@bose.com HMS Byron: Tom Manning, Stockheath Camp 1943, Queen Mary - USA. Contact G. Fowleon0172675927.

HMS Modeste 1957-59, last commis-

Mabs Cross Hotel. 136, Standishgate,

Wigan. Contact Peter Wilkie, 10, Belvedere Ave. Atherton, Manchester M46 9LQ. HMS Hecate: Cefora Adriana de Novais Silva of Rua Tadeu Roberta No. 206, Alto da Bola, Federao cidade, Salvador, Bahia, CEP 40000 - 230, Brazil, would like to hear from Mark or Mari who visited Salvador with the ship in the 1980s, perhaps when Lt Cdr M K

Barrirt was commanding officer.

HMS Argonaut: If you served in the cruiser or the frigate you are eligible for the association. Annual reunions at HMS Nelson, Portsmouth, plus newsletters. Contact Eric Jones, 5a, Alexandra Rd, Southampton

Grove,

Swinton,

Mexborough,

tel: 01902 603281.

Bill Fleckney seeks L. Taylor (HMS Montclare) and William Howard Hope of HMS Oribi and later HMS Belfast of the 1945-50 period. Contact Bill at 14, Buckland Path, Buckland, Portsmouth PO2 7DB. BRNC Dartmouth, Sept 1977 to Jan 1978 entries: If you are interested in joining a celebration next year, or have contact with those who have left the RN, contact Capt John Keegan RN, preferably by e-mail on keegan299@netscapeonline.co.uk or tel: 01932 343726.

Over to You Aundre Sales Edwards seeks cousin Betty Sales, a Wren possibly known as Eileen Sales, parents Clarence and Agnes, last known address Tollgate House, Longton, Stoke-on-Trent. Betty may have married a Naval doctor after WWII and moved to Newcastle-u-Lyme. Contact Michael Watts, 21, Wellfield Close, Pickmere, Knutsford WA16 OLW, tel: 01565 734772, e-mail:

mjwatts@culcheth423.freeserve.co.uk HMS Gambia POs Mess, 1952-53 (Malta): Anyone who recalls CPO DFW Lane, who died in Malta, please contact Mrs J. Swainson, 28 Runcorn Crescent, Grovehill, Hemel Hempstead HP2 6DG. Tel: 01442235846.

HMS Implacable and HMS Victorious: Josephine Markie seeks a photo of her father, Peter Markie,born October 16, 1925, who served in the Navy for five years.

Contact Josephine at 25, Ramsey Place, Cochrane Castle, Johnstone, Renfrewshire PA50EX. Tel: 01505 347622.

John Storey: In 1952 he was in Malta, aged 25-30, probably a senior rating, possibly medical branch. Contact 0151 342 5063 in connection with a legacy left in a will.

HMS Achates: David Wood is researching the life of his uncle, AB John Smithwaite, killed in action in Achates on December 31, 1942, during the Battle of the Barents Sea. If anyone has memories of John, photos of the ship and crew or a crew list 1941-42, please contact David at 26, Clifton Terrace, South Shields NE33 4LD, tel: 0191 456 9330.

John Gratwicke: Ernest Broome seeks relatives of stoker John Gratwicke, HMS Invincible, drowned at Banfry on February 3, 1910. Ernest has a photo and wants to learn more. Contact him at 7, Church St, Messingham, Scunthorpe DN17 3SB, tel: 01724762587

HMS Snapdragon: Jan Charles' uncle Frederick Samuel Horton died in the sinking of the ship in 1942. Her family believed all life was lost, but recently discovered there were 60 survivors. They would like to speak to survivors about the sinking and any memories of Jan's uncle. Contact Mrs Charles at 66, Hungerford Rd, Norton, Stourbridge DY8

are any of the ladies still with us? Contact Lt Cdr R.C. Bailer (Retd), High Tree Cottage, Leintwardine, Craven Arms SY7 OLU, tel: 01547540694.

St George's School, Hong Kong: David Manning and Michael Doherty seek former classmate John Dennis, whose father may have been a senior RN officer at HMS Tamar.

If anyone knows where John is or went to the school and wants to get in touch, contact David at 5, Evergreen Court, Leeming 6149, Perth, Western Australia, e-mail: dkmvrmt@tinet.net.au Seeking info about Huw Thomas Green, who served circa 1958-1968. His niece, Carol Burrell, wants to find out more about a snake he found and named in Borneo.

Contact Carol Burrell, Capelni, Chapel St, Acrefair, Wrexham LL14 3TB Albert Parker, Born Sept 4, 1914 in Oldham. Does anyone recall Keith Parker's father, who served 1933 to 1945? Ships include HMS Vivid, Drake, Button, Rodney, Westcott. Capetown. Cochrane, Dolphin, Cyclops and submarines Tribune, Rorqual, Tally-Ho. Contact Keith at 51, Camborne Cr, Westlands, Newcastle, Staffs ST35 3NQ, tel: (day) 01782 333377 (eve) 01782 615945 or

e-mail: keith.parker@eidosnet.co.uk Christine Broome seeks info about her cousin Peter Prestidge, originally from Birmingham, now about 50, She believes he was a Sparks. Contact Christine Broome (Rose) on 0121 783 0243, or e-mail: spyder8@lineone.net AB (s) Rl Woodley aka Stretch: Hannah Woodley's husband was in the Navy from 1988-95. His first ship was HMS Active, and he served in Avenger and Amazon, as well as two tours of Northern Ireland. Hannah hopes to trace old friends of his, for a surprise 30th birthday in August. Contact Hannah at work on 01865 821821.

Victoria. The vessels were called William McKinnon, Winifred, Sybil, Clement Hill and

Nyanza. If anyone has any info on the battles fought on the lake, photos of the vessels or could confirm what ship his father was on,

contact D. Hawkes, 29, Wadham Parade, Ml Waverley, Victoria, 3149 Australia.

Land Rover reg 48 RN 96: Zoe Walker is researching the history of her Land Rover, which she believes was used for bomb disposal due to the red wings. Used between 1980-85. it is a Series 3, long wheelbase Safari, possibly based at Chatham or Deal.

Contact Zoe Walker, 126, Winstanley Rd, Saffron Walden CB11 3EY, tel: 07718 649609, or e-mail: zj_walker@hotmail.com HMS Teviot: Jack Rushworth joined the ship In Colombo in 1944 and left her in Cape Town when she was paid off and transferred to the South African Navy in June 1945. Two official photographs were taken of the Ship and of the Crew, and each member was given copies, but Jack's were stolen. If anyone can let him have copies of the pictures or was on the ship at the time, contact Jack at 69 Clay St, Stapenhill, Burton-on-Trent DE15 9BG, tel: 01283 565274.

Jack Street: Maureen Bending seeks anyone who knew her uncle, who joined HMS Royal Arthur in March 1940, then Pembroke II. He was killed in HMS Foxhound or SS Mohamed Ali El Kabir.

Contact Mrs Bending at 19, Church Rd, Boreham, Chelmsford CMS 3BN. Chain of Command: James Sharp is seeking a copy of this poem, in particular the one which pre-dates the introduction of the Fleet Chief (WOI) rank. Contact Mr. Sharp, Red Hart Inn, Llannapley NP7 8SN. Claude Sparks born Emsworth (Bosham) 1888. J. Gander seeks info on his stepfather, who completed 22 years service in 1928. He lived at Westcott near Dorking before being called back to Portsmouth in 1938 where he served again until 1948 at HMS St Vincent as a Training Instructor (CPO). He also served in HMS iron Duke and Royal Yacht Princess Margaret. Contact J. Gander, 9 Aldridge Close, Clanfield,

Idrisyn John James 'Taffy' Lewis served in OEMS as an AA gunner, at the beginning of WWII, in SS Beaconlight, SS Clan Ferguson and SS Baltara. He also served in HM Ships Greyhound, Javelin Westminster and Loch Tarbert. If anyone has any memories of M.E. Lewis' late father conWaterlooville POS ONP, tel: 023 9259 3270. tact M E Lewis him at 70, Broadstone Close, HMS Castletown 1941-47: Lease-lend SAB. Tel: 01384 347876.

Hayling Golf Course: Jack Ridyard Bransholme Estate, Hull HU7 6AZ, tel: destroyer escort, ex-US Navy AAWI Arron would like to establish if any Naval personnel 01482 830595.

Ward. Adopted by the village of Clitheroe during Warship Week 1942. The Castle were involved in Exercise Fabius in May HMS Victorious 1958-59: During the first year of commission of the rebuilt Victorious, Museum has on display the ship's crest and 1944, the final exercise before D-Day, involving British and Canadian assault forces a company made a film about life on board, press cuttings, but would like more photos and memorabilia. Contact G. Stirland, 7, in beach landings on Hayling. If anyone has called Floating Fortress. Does anyone know Heather Grove, Ribbleton, Preston PR2 knowledge or pictures, please contact Jack the company or have a copy that John 60S, tel: 01772791571.

Ridyard, Archivist, Hayling Golf Club, Links McKenzie can obtain? Contact him at The Lt Johnnie Lockhart RN: One of the Lane, Hayling Island PO11 OBX, tel: 023 Post House, Thruxton, Andover SP11 8LZ. Pewter tankard: Does anyone recognise Three Musketeers' at Visagapatam, India, in 9282 6816, or e-mail: hgcKd@aol.com this crest on this tankard: A hooded snake 1946, the others being Lt William Crowther RM Band: Does anyone have an audio (cobra or viper) in the strike position, coiled and Capt W.G. Smith. Capt Smith wishes to recording of the Band playing Sunset to the contact Johnnie or his family. Contact Brand! hymn The Day Thou Gavest Lord is Ended. around the length of a submarine, enclosed Zatterberg, 2956, Switzerville Road, The version with Abide with me is available, in a circlet of cordage, surmounted by a Napanee, Ontario, Canada. K7R 3K9. but Sam Spooner hasn't heard the former Naval Crest, with the motto Won Nascondiglio with Boiler Room 83-86 underHMS Hercules: Having found a 5" oval since leaving the RN in 1948. Contact Sam brass plaque, John Roberts wondered where at 37, Manor Rd, Sudbury CO10 1PB, tel: neath? Contact J.F. Rockey, 023 9237 1137.

Commander (?) Peek: One-time Captain it would have been displayed. It has the 01787376028.

Andrew Reid: John Reid is researching of HMS Zebra. If anyone has any information inscription: HMS Hercules - Any seaman his family history and wants to know more on him, contact Douglas Harvey, Southside, returning from shore leave in a drunk and Tyninghame, East Lothian EH42 1XL. disorderly fashion will forfeit 7 days Grog about his uncle, killed in 1942 in HMS ration - by order Captain Hewlett RN HMS Llandaff: Mike Brady hopes to comAnking. He also served in HMS Imogen, Falcon and Sultan II. Contact John at 2. pile a record of the ship's movements from January 1850. Contact John at 2, Bold Farm first commissioning to her sale to, and time Lane, Broad St, Presteigne LD8 2EL. Ellary Walk, Hartlepool TS25 4AX, tel: 01429 Rayment, Henry Louis (Harry) (1924291856, e-mail: john.reid14Sntlworld.com in, the Bangladesh Navy. If anyone has info, HMS Pirouette: Judith Beadle seeks a no matter how small, or commission books 94): Signed up as volunteer in July 1942 that he could borrow, contact Mike at 146, (Signalman), left service in 1949. Served in picture of the Pirouette for her father. The Western Boulevard, Nottingham, NG8 3NW. ship was built as a trawler at Goole Pembroke, Cochrane III, Pembroke IV Shipbuilding in 1939-40 and sailed as a HMS Kelly: An oppo of C.G. Blowers, Alt (Ashanti), Tyne, Drake IV, Lanka II. Nicki minesweeper and on convoy escort duty until Townley, gave him an oil painting of HMS Rayment would like to hear from anyone who Kelly, last year just before he died. Alt, may have served with Harry. Contact Nicki at 1946. She was sold as a mercantile vessel and renamed Tridente. Contact Judith at 3, although badly burnt, was a survivor, having 3, Sherwood Crescent, Reigate RH2 7QL, email: pikie@hotmail.com served in Kelly up until her sinking. The sigRobson Ave, Beverley High Road, Hull HU6 7AN, tel: 01482 342327 ext 2216. nature on the painting is Vincent Stupple U989: Peter Muller's father was on U989 does anyone know anything about the artist? when it was sunk by the 10th Escort Group LSI 427: Ron Wilson seeks info about Contact C.G. Blowers, 184, St David's Ave, (HM ships Braithwaite, Loch Dunvegan, LST 427, commissioned Slater Island, NY, DoverCT179HJ. Loch Eck and Bayntun) on February 14, May 1943. Could any crew member at that RFA Resource: Large hexagonal metal 1945 between 1700 and 200. Four men were time contact Ron on 01708 225378.

Salvoes from a Stone frigfto, a book of chest (20"x25") mounted on wood. For disrescued, but all died. One of the three resposal, contact Nicko Franks, Ketch Manager, cued by the Bayntun was named as Ernst illustrated war verses by Major J.S. Hicks Arethusa, Lower Upnor, Rochester ME2 Tearllen; Peter says that there was no RM, published 1946: Who was this officer?

Tearllen on the crew list, and that his father's On the flyleaf are seven ladies' signatures: E 4XB, tel: 01634 711566, fax: 01634 295905.

Proceeds to Shaftesbury Homes and Cardew, Eline Williams (CO), L.M. Haywood Christian name was Ernst, so believes that could have been his father. If anyone was (Cookie), Nancy Wilson (Cox), S.G. Clarke Arethusa charity.

(Skipper) Anne Hopkins (Pilot) and Violet Lake Victoria: D. Hawkes' father Arthur involved in the rescue, or has any informaLees, Secretary: all appear to be involved Hawkes joined HMS Ganges as a boy in tion, contact Peter at 24539 Neumunster, with MTB 630. Was MTB 630 a real MTB and 1911, and manned steamers on Lake Marienweg 8, Germany.

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NAVY NEWS, MAY 2001

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Monevwise

Pre-1996 divorcees "„'..',:. mav face new claim

When a split can

MOST Naval personnel will be aware that from the age of 23, subject to certain criteria, it is possible to obtain a Long Service Advance of Pay (LSAOP) writes Chris Upfield.

The advance acts as a deposit to allow Service people to buy a property with a mortgage. On completion of the purchase, a charge is registered against the property to protect repayment of the LSAOP. However, the repayment is made by instalments from wages through the remainder of the term of service. Therefore any balance remaining on the date of leaving the service is deducted from any terminal grant - when the charge against the property is finally released.

While this is relatively straightforward for many Naval people, property bought jointly with a partner or spouse can cause difficulties if the marriage or relationship should break down.

Obviously, if the property is sold as a result of the split, the balance is paid from the proceeds of the sale. But if, for example, a Divorce Court orders that the property be transferred to the non-Service spouse as part of the financial arrangements, then the outcome is quite different.

In that case, where there is a court order, the charge against the property is released, but the Serviceman or woman will be asked to repay the LSAOP. If there are no funds available, the LSAOP will be converted into a Crown debt. This debt can be repayable by the Service person by instalments from his or her wages - and the outstanding balance paid from a terminal grant on leaving the Service.

S

ince I last wrote

by Chris about new laws concerning penUpfield sion division upon divorce (Navy News, to make any order, in favour November), I have been power of a wife, that would attach a inundated with enquiries. Serviceman's terminal grant

One of the most common queries comes from Naval personnel who were divorced in the 1980s or early 1990s and who are now nearing the end of

their service. The new law appears to have thrown up the possibility of ex-wives making a

claim against the pension or terminal grant, or both.

Let us look at a practical scenario: Imagine you are a CPO who entered the Navy in 1980, married in 1985 and divorced in 1995. You are

due to leave the Service next year and will receive a terminal grant of £25,000 and a pension of £8,500 a year.

You will have the opportunity to

commute part of your pension to raise an additional lump-sum of

£13,000 (these figures are notional). At the time of the divorce you lived in a married quarter and you

had no assets. You had two young children at the time and you pay maintenance through the Child Support Agency.

Let us assume that neither you nor your ex-wife have remarried.

She is now working full-time, because the children arc older, and earns £750 a month. She has told

you she will be making a claim for a lump-sum when you leave the Navy. How do you stand?

There is no definite answer. If no court orders were made in relation to finances at the time of the divorce, then she is free to make a claim for a lump-sum and can still apply for maintenance from you for herself. But she cannot ask the

court to order the Navy to divert to her money directly from your lump-sum or pension.

At the time of divorce in 1995, pension earmarking and pension sharing legislation was an apple in the Government's eye, but no more. Furthermore, because of Services legislation, it was generally considered outside the court's

Looking for a better deal on

CAR INSURANCE?

payable in the future. Generally, there was no point in a wife making

an application for a lump-sum until it was time for the gratuity to be paid.

So at present, what can a court do?

It has no power to direct the Navy to pay any proportion of the terminal grant directly to the ex-wife. And the pension element cannot be specifically earmarked. But it can consider an application by an ex-wife on its merits.

The court will look at a number of factors, one of which will be the length of the marriage. Another

will be the contribution made by each party during the marriage to the family, and this will include contributions made by a wife in

caring for children while the husband was at sea.

In short, if I were to be approached by a husband

faced with a claim by an exwife in the circumstances I

such that your only income was the income from the pension, the answer would be that the court would almost certainly not find it appropriate to order any maintenance to be payable now.

However, the court could well

decide that it would be appropriate to leave open the ex-wife's claims for maintenance to a future date.

Therefore, it is fair to say that a

lump-sum element is far more at risk than the pension income.

• CHRIS UPFIELD is head of the Family Department at

Coffin Mew & Clover Solicitors in Fareham, Hampshire.

INFORMATION on pensions and pension sharing on divorce can also be obtained by RN and RM personnel from the Armed Forces Personnel and Administration Agency (Centurion), EDS/Naval Pay and Pensions (Accounts) 1, Centurion Building, Grange Road, Gosport, Hants., PO13 9XA.

FORCES, EX-SERVICE PERSONNEL WOUNDS? DISEASES? INJURIES? CAUSED BY SERVICE? also INDUSTRIAL INJURIES, DISEASE AND PERSONAL ACCIDENT CLAIMS

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have highlighted, I would

suggest that the court would be likely to make some sort of lump-sum award.

I would not expect the wife to

recover one-half of the gratuity, since the parties had been married only for ten years out of the husband's total of 22 years' service, during which time entitlement to the pension and gratuity had built up.

The next question is whether a

court would take into account that part of the pension that was corn-

mutable to produce the additional

FCL

£13,000. It is possible that a judge would take the husband's right to commute part of the pension into account in determining the amount of any lump-sum paid.

But what if the wife claimed against the pension element?

In essence, because the court cannot earmark the pension specifically, this is a simple question of whether or not the wife is entitled to be maintained. If she was working and you had not obtained a job,

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36

www. navynews. co. uk

NAVY NEWS, MAY 2001

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Recruitment & Business Opportunities

JOBSEARCHERS

FLS Aerospace Limited

ROYAL NAVAL RESERVE

The prospect of joining FLS Aerospace is an exciting one. Already a

leading independent provider of full support maintenance services to the airline industry, FLS aim to be a world leader.

Operating from London Gatwick. London Stansted, London Luton and Manchester airports, we now have vacancies for the following:

Ready to move on?

01753890243

CVs & Job Search for all Ranks of Service Personnel www.jobsearchers.co.uk

0845 607 5555 (24 hours)

LICENSED ENGINEERS

023 9272 7679 (working hours) www.rnjobs.co.uk/rnr

COMMERCIAL PERSONNEL

(under'RN Profile')

WIDE RANGING ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF MECHANICAL /AVIONIC WORKSHOP MECHANICS

Recruits are normall/ British or Commonwealth

subjects aged between I6

MECHANICAL: Engine Shop / Hydraulic Shop / Sheet Metal

and 40 (45 for ex-RN),

AVIONIC: Instrument Shop / Radio Shop / Electrical Shop

male or female and physically fit

Applications from qualified engineers welcomed. Experience in Aerospac advantageous, but appropriate training will be provided where necessary

Broadcast Meteorologists, part-time (2) BBC SouthWest Salary according to skills and experience.Truro, Exeter or Plymouth.

BBC South West is seeking two part-time Broadcast

Meteorologists for permanent weekend work and holiday relief, to provide weather forecasts for BBC Radio Cornwall and BBC

This is an outstanding opportunity to join a growing organisation that offers an attractive remuneration package including a competitive salary, excellent benefits and sound prospects for career advancement.

Please apply in writing enclosing CV to Guy Whittaker,

Radio Devon.

INVESTOR IN PEOPLE

To advertise on our Recruitment pages

Senior Personnel Officer. FLS Aerospace Limited. Long Border Road.

London - Stansted Airport. Essex CM24 1

call 023 927 25062 or 023 927 24226

Milsom Industrial Designs Limited 8 Brassmill Enterprise Centre, Brassmill Lane, Bath, BA1 3JN Tel: 01225 444 809 Fax: 01225 444 787

www.midltd.co.uk

DEVELOP THE SKILLS THE POLICE ASSESS. HOME STUDY PROGRAMME

New Leaf Education Tel: 01302 859954 PO Box 460, DONCASTER DN4 9XL

www.newleafeducation.co.uk

£500-£1,500 Month/P/Time £1,500-£5,000+ Full Time www.hbitl.net/7690 International home-based Business Full training & support

www.dera.gov.uk/careers

We currently have the following vacancies based in the Southwest -

Ideal candidates will have a sound academic background in Maths, Physics or other applicable science, excellent communication skills and a good microphone voice, and proven practical experience and

interest in weather forecasting. You will need outstanding IT skills and you must be able to work under pressure to strict deadlines.

For further details and an application form, contact BBC Recruitment Services by May 8th (quote ref. 49857/NN and give your name and address) Tel: 020 8740 0005. Textphone: 020 8225 9878.

Postcard: PO Box 7000, London Wl2 8GJ. E-mail: recserv@bbc.co.uk Online: www.bbc.co.uk/jobs/e49857.shtml Closes: May Nth.

Mechanical & Avionic Technical Authors, CV with covering letter to: Rebekah Brind

Working for equality of opportunity

Join our avionic rig teams

Testing next generation Avionic Systems for military aircraft The name DERA is synonymous with the creation and application of world-class science and technology. Though this name is soon to change with the advent of Private Public Partnership, our unique fusion of intelligence, imagination and energy will remain the lifeblood of the new enterprise. The greater part of the existing organisation will become a pic, competing on the world stage to deliver life-enhancing innovations to customers and their communities across the globe.

A smaller core of our expertise will be retained within government as a centre of technical excellence and defence research capability for the MOD. Both entities will build on a knowledge base that is acknowledged and admired worldwide.

The position advertised here will be with QinetiQ pic, which will harness ingenuity and integrity to the power of science and technology - the greatest drivers of change in the modern world.

up to £20,500 <& benefits • Boscombe Down, Wiltshire The Aircraft Test & Evaluation (AT&E) Sector at Boscombe

databus architectures and software would prove an additional

Down is the UK's official centre for the evaluation and acceptance

advantage. In addition, your personal qualities will include a strong

testing for all military aircraft, their armament and associated

sense of team spirit and the ability to deliver under pressure.

equipment. With state-of-the-art simulation and rig facilities, plus a dedicated test fleet, we can offer a uniquely diverse and challenging environment.

We are looking for a talented individual to join the teams

excellent career development, limited only by your own abilities

working on our Avionic Rigs (Harrier GR7, Jaguar, Merlin Mkl,

and ambition. The position is offered on a permanent basis.

Sea Harrier,Tornado Grl & 4).These full-scale ground based aircraft rigs have the capability to test mission systems/software controlling navigation & weapon delivery.The role involves conduct of trials & support of the systems, interpretation of results and liaison with customers to provide reports and advice. lifecycle of the project.

DERA is a committed equal opportunities employer DERA is an Agency of the MOD

package including a generous pension, holiday allowance and where appropriate, relocation assistance.You can also look forward to

These are hands-on roles with responsibility throughout the

INVESTOXINKOrU

This stimulating and technical role comes with a highly attractive

You will ideally have specific knowledge of one of the aircraft types. However, as long as your record demonstrates relevant experience of aircraft avionic systems, we can complement your expertise with additional training. An understanding of modern

For an application form, please contact, quoting reference 2830, The Response Management Team, Al A (Associates in Advertising), 5 St John's Lane, London ECIM 4BH.Tel:020 7553 9120 (between 9.30am and 5.30pm). Closing date for receipt of completed applications is 11 th May 2001.

www. navynews. co. uk

NAVY NEWS. MAY 2001

Options

37

Education Sonardyne SOUND

IN

DEPTH

Bookings are now being taken for our next Navy News \ EDUCATION SUPPLEMENT please contact the Advertising Department on 023 9272 4226

SONARDYNE ARE RECRUITING...

Our mission is:

is your child deaf?

"To be world leaders in underwater acoustic navigation and positioning"

Bexhill College Turkey Road Bexhill-on-Sea East Sussex TN39 5HF

Sonardyne International Ltd is an established global leader in the design and manufacture of subsea acoustic positioning and navigation solutions to the offshore drilling, survey and seismic industries. Our products are exported and installed world-wide.

College

Leaving The Forces? Want THE job not A job? ExServices in Business? Join The List it's FREE Open lo Services/ex-Services & all Ranks

The essential Job Search & Business Directory.

stopping you? You can easily earn far in excess of your Forces income - 1 am.

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outstanding

have over 1,100 students who are developed and encouraged through exceptional pastoral care and teaching skills.

NEWLANDS Quality Education

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specialist teachers of the deaf and a

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fine tradition of oral education HII^^^^I^BII you need look no further K^MsQj^^S^^I

PUBLIC SERVICES TUTOR We are looking for a tutor with experience of a least one of the public services required to contribute to our BTEC First and National programme. A teaching qualification would be desirable but training would be offered to the appropriate candidate.

Please send in a letter of application together with a CV by May 9* 2001 addressed for the attention of The Personnel Secretary.

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instein Meets JVlarie C,urie

J

For all of your advertising needs Call 023 9272 5062

PO liox 156. Dunsfold, Godalming GU8 4YH

Co-educational day & boarding school for pupils aged 2 ] / , - 18 years

superb environment in which they can learn and grow

- Part time 0.3 - 0.4 - SFE pay spine

For more information on Sonardyne and details of all current vacancies, please visit our website www.sonardyne.co.uk Alternatively please submit a CV together with an indication of your remuneration to Miss Lisa Garner, Sonardyne International Ltd, Blackbushe Business Park, Yateley, Hants, GU46 6GD or via email: lmg@sonardyne.co.uk

Imagine working from home, part or full time, running your own business with the support of a market leading company.

Too good to he true'.' I've done il so what's

with

examination results, we currently

We also have an active apprenticeship scheme and welcome applicants.

worth, and realise your dreams??

as one of the top specialist schools in the country we can offer your child a

Sixth Form and Further Education

Hydrographic Surveyors Field Engineers Customer Support Engineers Test Technicians Assembly Technicians Repairs Technicians Production Planner

You've had the best training shouldn't you earn what you're

then we are here to help

We are a thriving and expanding

We urgently require:

Leaving the Navy?

Telephone:

01424214545 Fax: 01424215050

Outstanding careers begin with an outstanding education. The Duke of Kent School makes an important difference in young lives.

The curriculum is excitingly varied. The environment is helpful and caring. The results are often remarkable.

Contact the headmaster, Alan Cameron, to discover how you can give your child a flying start.

DUKE OF KENT SCHOOL • Co-ed 4-13 ' Day, full boarding and half board ' Scholarships

• Designated area of natural beauty ' Superb facilities ' Caring culture

ST. JOHN'S COLLEGE This Independent Day and Boarding School

with a strong interdenominational and international dimension provides an excellent education for boys and girls aged 2 to 18.

' Happy family atmosphere • Bursaries for service children

Ewhurst Surrey GU6 7NS

Tel (01483) 277313 Fax (01483) 273862 www:dukeofkentschool.org.uk email:dok.school<?Virgin.net

West Hill Park A great start with a great finish

UPPER SCHOOL Scholarships available & Separate sciences taught SIXTH FORM 34 acres of playing fields LOWER SCHOOL Full use of upper school facilities French taught throughout

Academic, Cultural & Sporting Excellence Fees in line with BSA High percentage of Forces boarders Accelerated Learning Centre Theatre Arts Course

Specialist subject teachers NURSERY

Open from Sam to 6pm, 51 weeks per year.

Please Call for A Prospectus

Fax: 01323 898420 e-mail: newlandsl@msn.com www.newlands-school.com Charity No 297606

West Hill Park School Titchficld, Fareham, Hants PO 14 4BS For a prospectus please contact the School Registrar T: 01329 842356

Tel. 01323 490000 Newlands School, Eastborne Road, Seaford, East Sussex BN25 4NP

West Hill Park is a co-educational Preparatory School for children from 3-13 years, Nursery, Pre-Preparatory and Preparatory departments with boarding from 7-13.

Tel: 023 92 815118 Fax: 023 92 873603 E-mail :sjcsouthsea@lineone.net www.stjohnscollege.co.uk

K: westhillcormplc.co.uk W: www.weslhill.hants.sch.uk West Hill School Trust Limited.

A company limited l>y guarantee.

Keg. No. (,3373ft

Charity Keg. No. :«!7:i4:i

38

www. navy news, co.uk

NAVY NEWS, MAY 2001

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• New exhibition tells the story of the cradle of naval aviation HE HISTORY of aviation at Lee-on-theSolent is celebrated in a major free exhibition at Gosport this month.

T

Organised by Gosport Aviation Society, the show is being staged at No2 Battery, Stokes Bay, and will trace the

Lee story from its earliest days in 1917 to the station's closure in 1996.

As well as charting the development of flying along the Solent's northern shores, a comprehensive display of

photographs will illustrate the development of the Lee and Hill Head areas, particularly in the pre-World War II years.

First established in July 1917 as an RNAS satellite to the station at Calshot, Lee

came under RAF control in April 1918. For the next 21 years the place was in the forefront of sea-flying in its

various forms and played host not only to such legendary aviators as Longmore, Bell Davies and Whittle, but also to no fewer than 874 seaplanes

and flying boats of every shape and size.

• Above: A Short Type 184 (N.9104) of 209 Training Depot Squadron on the slipway at Lee towards the end of 1918. Inset: Technicians working on the engine and forward fuselage of the same aircraft, c. 1920. Over 650 Short Type 184s were built for the RNAS. The first aircraft in the world to sink an enemy ship at sea by torpedo attack, it was to World War I what the Swordfish became to World War II, earning a reputation for solid reliability.

will receive 6 FREE picture cards to kickstart an exciting and interesting collection of ships of the Royal Navy To receive a postcard size picture of her and of the next eleven featured ships, simply phone 023 9282 6040

or send your cheque/PO to the address below. Each month you will receive a

glossy photograph helping you to build a comprehensive and interesting collection.

Orders To: The Business Manager, Navy News, HMS Nelson, Queen Street, Portsmouth, PO1 3HH Cheques payable to Navy News, payment by Credit Card/Switch, UK & Abroad, please use the coupon on page 4

Picture Postcards from 1956 to present date There are over 500 black and white glossy postcards available on request at a cost of 65p each (min order £1.95). To receive a free list simply write to the Promotions Department or phone 023 9282 6040 or fill in the coupon on page 4

Or buy online at www.navynews.co.uk

• Above: Machine-gun training at Lee, c. 1921. Below: a Lee-based Fairey Flycatcher launching from the catapult of HMS Ark Royal in the Solent, March 1931. The pilot is probably Flying Officer Frank Whittle, who had patented his design fora jet engine the year before.

The RAF expansion programme of the early 1930s also heralded the arrival of conventional, land-based aircraft with the opening of the airfield in 1934.

Change of ownership came in May 1939 when the Royal Navy in the form of the Fleet Air Arm regained control of its own flying destiny and the station was commissioned as HMS Daedalus - a name it was to retain until closure, save for a six-year interlude as HMS Ariel between 1959 and 1965.

During its life, the station had to adapt to changing roles, one of the most important being its participation in the D-Day invasion. On June 6,1944, Lee was among the busiest air stations on the south coast.

Although operational flying effectively ceased in April 1988 with the departure of the Wessex 5-equipped 772 Squadron, Lee continued to serve as an active base.

Although its future remains uncertain, it is still used by the Hampshire Police Air Support Unit and HM Coastguard's Search and Rescue Flight, as well as by private flyers and the Portsmouth Naval Gliding Club.

The recent arrival of a PBY5A Catalina for restoration to flying condition acts as an encouraging sign for the future when Lee may be restored to full flying glory.

CJ Aviation at Lee-on-theSolent 1917-1996 opens on May 26 from 12 noon to 6p.m. and will continue at weekends until August 26

www.navynews. co. uk

NAVY NEWS, MAY 2001

Options

39

Accommodation

SUPPORT YOUR CLUBI All booking requirements in writing only, enclosing £5 deposit on each Family Room. Enclose a S.A.E. for your receipt.

ACCOMMODATION: For Service Personnel, their families and dependents plus ex. serving personnel and R.N.A. members who may be visiting the Plymouth area.

FUNCTIONS: We cater for all types of functions at very competitive prices. Ships Functions, Mess Parties, Wedding Receptions, Reunions of ships, past and present, we offer an ideal facility.

Royal Fleet Club Morice Square, Devonport, Plymouth PL1 4PQ Telephone inquiries only Plymouth 01752 562723 ASK FOR QUOTATION. CONTACT THE MANAGER

WITHOUT DELAY TO AVOID DISAPPOINTMENT

Garian House Holiday Flatlets Self-catering flatlets, near sea and shops. Fully equipped. Colour TV, fridge,

cooker, linen, etc. Ideal for a visit by family or girl friend.

MINIMUM 2 PERSONS OR CHARGE TOR

Charge f WEEKLY JULY & AUGUST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £80 per

J WEEKLY JUNE & SEPTEMBER

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £70

person 1 OTHER MONTHS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £50

I Nightly (Out of Season) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £10 ALL WITH OWN BATHROOM AND TOILET Guests, who anticipate a late arrival should inform the management before 2pm

Children 12 years or under - HALF PRICE if sleeping in the same room as adults.

BOOKINGS ARE SATURDAY TO SATURDAY ONLY DURING MAY - OCTOBER. MR CURTIS, 70 RESTING GROVE, SOUTHSEA, PORTSMOUTH, HANTS. TELEPHONE: 023-9273 3581 MOBILE: 0802-938559

Hampshire Court Hotel

LAKESIDE APARTMENTS

29/31 Hampshire Terrace, Southsea PO1 2QF

5 HELENA ROAD, SOUTHSEA

Delightful listed building, 1823. Central for seafront, stations, city centre, ferry ports etc. Private car parking Tea/coffee making facilities, colour TVs in all rooms + full English breakfast

"Closer to home than a hotel"

Prices from £18 per person per night

ROYAL SAILORS' HOME CLUB

TEL: 023 9282 0690 Under new ownership these superior, self contained apartments are fully equipped with all the amenities expected to make your stay comfortable.

Situated in quiet area close to seafront, pier, shopping facilities and all major transport facilities.

Offering excellent weekly rates and favourable discounts for extended

Telephone (023) 9282 3522

winter stays.

THE GRAND HOTEL: Plymouth

£xctu4itte fo ptet&tt rtW

Province Of Natal Hotel Accommodation • Leisure Facilities • Bars and Restaurant

Private functions catered for by professionals

The Hotel was a gift after World War 2

Hands to dance and skylark to live music most weekends

Its purpose is to provide holidays and short breaks for all

I

Family & Associate membership now available Royal Sailors' Home Club, Queen Street, Portsmouth. P01 3HS TEL: 023 9282 4231

Accommodation & Full English Breakfast Peak Season (April-October) £29.50 per person per night in a double/twin Special Discounted Rates offered for 1 night or more between Thursday — Sunday Built in 1879 with 77 bedrooms and conveniently situated on Plymouth Hoe

5, Greenhill, Weymouth, Dorset DT4 7SR

All at attractive prices.

FAX: 023 9229 3496

email: sailors@homeclub.fsnet.co.uk web site: www.homeclub.fsnet.co.uk

serving and ex-serving RN, RM, WRNS or QARNNS

personnel and their reservists, families and close relatives. *50 yards from beach, safe swimming and fine sands.

"Half a mile from the shops and station. *AII rooms en-suite with tea and coffee facilities and colour TV "Lift to all floors 'Residents bar "Children and Pets welcome •Double, Twin and Family rooms available *We cater for small ships re-unions

HOME CLUB - HOME COMFORTS - HOME IN !

Janet & Andrew invite you to our comfortable, Friendly & ideally situated Hotel with 12 well

appointed en-suite bedrooms, bar, parking and plentiful and varied home cooking.

Call for your Special Discounts, Brochure & Christmas package

01803 297517

_____www.gienross-hotel.co.uk

42 Pier Street, "West Moe

*• 01752 229705 Bed and Breakfast from £16-£20.00 Seafront. Courtesy pick-up from

stations. 4 poster bed. All rooms \^ CTV. Tea/Coffee making. / j||E \^ Mostly En-suite. Parking. /^Hp

Stalham-Norfolk Comfortable Two Bedroom Holiday Chalets On Attractive Site.

Ideal location for Touring Norfolk Broads and Coast.

From £85.00 p.w.

Tel: 01692-581985

Plymouth Haddington House Self-catering holiday apartments Furnished to a high standard open all year with parking

Visit our website www.abudd.co.uk

A hrtel managed hy Macdunald

*

Closest B+B to Naval Base, 100 yards from main gate, HMS Victory/Mary Rose/ HMS Warrior/ Museums all on doorstep.

22 rooms most en-suite, singles/doubles/twins + family rooms, colour T.V, Tea+Coffee facilities, free house

_______

Tel: 023 9287 0505

for a brochure call 01752 767730

HOTEL PLYMOUTH HOE

AA

HAMILTON

Registered Charily No 226446

PLYMOUTH Osmond Quest Mouse

(01752)661195

LADY

For more information Tel: 01305 784108 or Fax: 01305 770575

EnglUh Tourtim Council ****

Telephone:

.A.&E.T.C.

QRTSMOUT

Group booking discounts available

TORQUAY Glenross Hotel

* * *

RAC

Lockyer St, PL12QD Telephone: (01752) 227311

*

Elegant Victorian Building with 22 Bedrooms - 5 Ground Floor.

Nautical Flavour Cocktail Bar. Colour TV, Radio, Tea/Coffee/ Telephone all rooms. Most en suite.

Large car park. Navy News Readers 10% Accommodation Discount. All Credit Cards

accepted.

Brochure & or Booking contact: Lt. Cdr. Alan Jones RNR (Ret'd) "A 'Personal Service' Comfortable Hotel"

CANTERBURY HOTEL + UPLANDS HOTEL SOUTHSEA, HANTS

Medway Heritage Break 2 night weekend break in the heart of Maritime Kent •T World Naval Base - Including HMS Cavalier

'A' FortAmhurst - An amazing Napolionic Fortress

W Royal Engineers Museum - One of the best military museums in England

•& Rochester Castle, Cathedral <£ Charles Dickens Centre 2 nights Bed & Breakfast at the King Charles Hotel, Gillingham with Dinner on the first night, FREE tickets to one of the above attractions and discount vouchers to many other attractions in Medway ............ Just £47.00 per person.

Telephone O1634 83O3O3

THE NAVAL CLUB

RESERVATIONS 023 9229 3136

™mii]

All Rooms En-suite Bed + Breakfast / Room Only Hotels minutes from seafront Weekend Rates From £15.00 p.p.p.n

• Well placed in the heart of Mayfair, the Naval Club is the only London Club providing a Naval and Maritime environment where all those interested in the sea can feel at home.

• It is NOT necessary to have been a Naval Officer to become a Member. We welcome all those with an interest in maritime affairs and the sea in general.

TORQUAY

Southbank Hotel • Licensed Bar ETB*** • Close to seafront + shops • Family rooms available • H/C, Tea+Cotfee, TV, All Rooms Mags (Simon) & Rachel Thacker Both Ex-Navy

• The Club is open 7 days a week throughout the year for accommodation and meals, and offers special weekend break rates of two nights for the price of one.

• Ladies welcome, both as members and as guests.

For more information contact: Commander John Prichard, Royal Navy, Chief Executive,

Tel: 01803 296701

Fax: 01803 292026

ADVERTISING RATES (excl. VAT) as effective from 1st April 2OQO

DISPLAY

Full Page................. £2,180 Half Page.................£1,204 Quarter Page .............. £680

S.c.c........................£13.50 CLASSIFIED l-RLE MEMBERSHIP

to serving personnel it reserves Close bv Marble Arch it Oxford Street

Choice of restaurants & bars Concessionary NCP Car Park rates Function rooms for dinners, receptions, reunions it private parties

Tin-VICTIM M:U\I< i;s < i.t 11 o.V"'-1 Sc\ mour Stivcl. London \\ 1 Jl

Tel 020 772 34474

Lineage ......... 90p per word Box number................... £3

on 020 7493 7672, Fax: 020 7355 2644 .

email: cdr@navalclub.co.uk

FORTE POSTHOUSE PORTSMOUTH or FAREHAM All naval personnel who produce their ID card can stay at our PORTSMOUTH Or FAREHAM POSTHOUSE for only £49.00 per room any night of the week (subject to availability).

For Reservation Call ~ Fareham: 087 0400 9028 Portsmouth: 087 0400 9065

PENFRIENDS

See details on .......... pagelo Discounts, Colour Rates, Technical Details available on request.

Tel: 023 927 25062 for a full Media Pack

To advertise on our Accommodation pages Tel: 023 927 25062 or 023 927 24226

40

www.navynews.co.uk

NAVY NEWS, MAY 2001

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Miscellaneous WORCESTERSHIRE MEDAL SERVICE LTD

LOST YOUR MEDALS?

the Pewterers

WE CAN REPLACE THEM NOW • WW1 TO PRESENT DAY IN FULL SIZE AND MINIATURE WE MOUNT MEDALS TO WEAR - COURT OR SWING STYLE PROFESSIONALLY SEWN AVAILABLE NOW THE GENERAL SERVICE CROSS, VOLUNTARY SERVICE AND MARITIME SERVICE MEDAL SAE FOR DETAILS & REPLACEMENT MEDALS LIST

FORMERLY CORIVO PRODUCTS

High quality pewter tankards,

| hip flasks, goblets, plates and , much more. Engraved with I Ship's Crests, Badges and | Logo's to your own designs.

Competitive prices.

Full colour brochure.

A R WENTWORTH (SHEFFIELD) LTD

Specialists in Medals and Medal Mounting.

56 Broad Street, Sidemoor, Bromsgrove, Worcs B61 8LL Tel: 01527 835375 Fax: 01527 576798 MEDALS PROFESSIONALLY MOUNTED COURT OR ORDINARY STYLE.

TOAD HALL MEDALS

Tankard House, 25 Leadmill Road, Sheffield S1 3JA

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NAVY NEWS, MAY 2001

Options

Curtain call for Acting rates

NoticeBoard THE TIME OF YOUR LIVES NAVY NEWS looks back through its pages to recall some of the May headlines of past decades ...

RETURN of Acting rates and

for advancement are among revised promotion procedure for ratings.

Phasing out of the Acting title -

referring to a 12-month probation-

Operational Honours List

40 years ago THE FRIGATE HMS Loch Fada had returned to Portsmouth after an 18-month deployment which had taken her to 15 countries including ports in the Gulf, North and East Africa, India and Pakistan.

• The fast minelayer HMS Apollo paid off at Portsmouth in 1961. She had been in service since 1944 and was used to take General Elsenhower and Admiral Ramsey to the D-Day beaches.

NORTHERN IRELAND

LESS emphasis on seniority and more on ability was promised by changes in choosing Chief Petty Officers. Instead of 'taxi-rank' advancement the new scheme would be based on selection and promotion.

The first of the Navy's Type 21 frigates, HMS Amazon, was launched at Southampton by Princess Anne.

THE NAVY'S first submarine, Holland I, was found off the Eddystone Lighthouse. The boat had sunk while on tow to the breakers in 1913. Sonar contact with the wreck had been made by the minesweeper HMS Bossington. Director of the RN Submarine Museum, Cdr Richard Compton-Hall,

hailed the event as "the greatest discovery in marine archaeology of recent years".

ary period in a higher rate - was announced in 1998, and the term 'Local Acting Promotion' introduced.

But that caused difficulties for pay and manpower information systems and, say the Naval Secretary's department, could be confused with the term Local Acting Advancement.

The re-introduced Acting rate title is aimed at personnel selected for promotion

who are unable, due to the demands of the Service, to

complete necessary courses before April of the training year for which they are

selected.

The rules which apply to warrant officers will not be changed.

The selective promotion system which introduced training before promotion marked the phasing out of the old roster system. Under that, promotion or advancement were traditionally approved at Captain's Requestmen, authorisation being issued by Commodore Naval Drafting and sent to the unit.

However, under the new system, individuals already have a Commanding Officer's recommendation for promotion before selection. They are then trained to carry out the duties of the higher rate and the explanation of duties and responsibilities will be conducted at leadership school and not as part of the Requestmen procedure.

The revised procedures are dealt with in full by RN Defence Council Instruction 20/01 issued in February.

Experts to discuss future ships THE NEXT generation of warships that will form the backbone of the world's navies well into the first half of this century will form the theme of a meeting held by naval design experts.

At its 21st annual symposium on June 20-21, the Royal Institution of Naval Architects will look at future surface warships.

Papers to be presented to the conference, at the Institute of Directors, London, will include

the subjects of adaptability as the key to modern warship design, new frigates for Europe, Swedish composite and stealth frigate development, and trimaran design

choices.

For more information call the RINA Conference Department on 0207 7235 4622 or e-mail: conference @ rina. org. uk

In Memoriam

HMS "KELLY* In memory of the 9 Officers and 121 men lost when the ship was divc-lmiibcd nnd sunk on the 23rd May 1941 during the Rattle of Crete.

HMS "KELLY" RE-UNION ASSOCIATION,

THE FOLLOWING members of the Royal Navy and Royal Marines received awards in the 2001 Operational Honours List published on April 6:

30 years ago

20 years ago

the dropping of the mandatory rule that sailors appear at the Captain's table as Requestmen the changes brought in by a

41

(Mozambique flood relief) QCVS - Capt Leslie Michael Coupland OBE, RFA.

SIERRA LEONE

OPERATION BOLTON (Gulf)

OBE - Cdr Richard Charles Robert Wellesley. DSC - Capt George Michael Zambellas RN .

QGM - Maj Philip James Conyers Ashby RM. QCVS - Lt Cdr Simon Reay Atkinson, Surgeon Lt

Capt Donald Cameron McEwen DSC, wartime Navigating Officer of cruiser HMS Aurora. Served 1930-61. Appointments: Kent, Arrow, Shoreham (Middle East), Aurora (Spitzbergen evacuation, Malta & Mediterranean - DSC, First Battle of Sine, N. Africa landings - MID. anti-convoy actions MID, took George VI from Triploli to Malta 1943), Colossus (British Pacific Fleet), Dryad 1946-48, Nigeria 1948-49, King's Harbour Master Sheerness, Staff Ops Officer to Flag

Officer Home, Swiftsure. Tyne (CO), Chief of Staff to C-in-C S. America station, Director of Navigation & Direction at Admiralty, Chief of Staff to C-in-C Portsmouth. Secretary of Portsmouth Services Fly Fishing Association.

Aged 83.

Lt Cdr Philip King, FAA pilot 1938-48 and survivor of sinking of first major HM ship in WW2, HMS Courageous (Sept 1939).

Flew Swordfish and Albacores. Also served in HMS Victorious (on first convoy to USSR 1941). CO 822 NAS in HMS Furious 1943

(strikes on Norway). Feb. 22, aged 86.

Thomas (Tom) Charlton. ex-PO, served FAA 1943-68 (Raleigh Div). March 20, aged Frank Samuel (Chats) Harris, exCPOCK. served 1945-57. Ships included Newcastle. Sylvia, Heron, Protector, Eagle, Minesweepers (service off Suez). RFR. Maurice John (Nick) Chandler BEM, exCY, served 1937-64. Ships included Dorsetshire, Nubian, Kenya, Belfast, Vengeance. Also Malta and France (NATO).

Feb. 16, aged 79.

Leonard Atkinson, member of HMS Belfast Association (served in ship as OS 1943). Feb. 3.

Frederick Jagger, member of HMS Belfast Association (served in ship as AB 1949-52). March 12.

James (Jim) Atkinson, ex-AB submariner. Boats: Otway, Satyr, Spur, Astute.

Member of Merton branch of Submariners Association. Aged 77.

Phillis Burt (nee Evans), ex-WRNS STD. Served in Orkney Islands and HMS Caledonia. Wife of Merton branch Submariners Association member Norman Burt. Aged 75.

Arthur Pierson, ex-AM/A. WW2 service included 836 NAS (MAC ships) and 729 NAS (HMS Ukussa, Ceylon). Member of Yorkshire branch of FAA Association.

Gavis Potter Hiscox BEM. Ex-CPO armourer, served 1938-66. WW2 veteran of Atlantic, Mediterranean, Far East. Ships: Ark Royal, Victorious, Eagle (boxing team 195859), Sea Hawk, Fulmar. Goldcrest, Heron, Gannet.

Member FAA Armourers Association. March 5, aged 85.

Cyril Pattinson, Russian convoys veteran and member of HMS Opportune Association (1942-55). March 21.

John Jacobs, ex-LS, served 1939-53.

Ships: Furious, Illustrious, Formidable. Largs (D-Day). Lothian (Force X), Norman, St

1958-68 and 1970-92 in RNR Newcastle,

retiring as MAA. Ships included Belton, Belfast, Relentless, Delight, Rapid. March 19, aged 60.

Ronald Joyce, ex-RM, served 1936-48.

Awarded King's Badge as bnest recruit in

Service people and their spouses go on show at The Mall Galleries in London on May 24-26.

The 67th annual exhibition of the Armed Forces Art Society will be open to the public between 10am and 5pm on May 24-25 and from 10am to 1pm on Saturday, May 26.

The AFAS's aim is to encourage art In the three Services and among former members, and to demonstrate that the profession of

NON OPERATIONAL AWARD

QCB - AB(D)1 Barry Charles George.

Capt S. Lidbetter to be promoted Rear Admiral and to be Flag Officer Maritime Aviation, Air Officer Commanding No 3 Group RAF, Commander Air East

and

Commander

Dartmouth. Ex-LS. Korea veteran and member of HMS Whitsand Bay Association.

March 5, aged 69.

Eric Levin, Falmouth. Ex-Sto. Aged 87.

Bertram Jenkin, former standard bearer and vice chairman Falmouth. Ships: Vengeance, Eagle, Ark Royal, and RN air stations St Merryn, Wingfield, Culdrose, Yeovilton, Arbroath. Aged 76.

George Jeffries, founder member, welfare officer and committee member Perth (Western Australia). Ex-AB Sto., served 1944-47. Ships: Ganges, Duke of York, Tyrian (E. Indies and British Pacific Fleet), Orwell. March 15.

Peter Gates, Harwich & District. Ex-FAA. Ships included Ganges. Walrus. Volunteer helper at Harwich Maritime Museum. March 27.

Vincent James Williams, chairman and founder member Oswestry. Served 1952-65.

Ships included Finisterre, Loch Inch, Duchess, Penelope. March 28, aged 65.

James Stratchan. Portsmouth. April 8.

Edgar E. Weston. Runcorn. Ex-DEMS seaman gunner and Normandy veteran. April 6.

Maritime Air North in succession to Rear Admiral I. R. Henderson.

July 24.

Capt I. F. Corder to be CO HMS Cumberland. May 22.

Cdr M. Bowen to be Director

Naval Nursing Services and Matron-in-Chief Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval Nursing Service. March 27.

Lt Cdr J. B. Woods to be CO HMS Bangor. Aug. 14.

Swop drafts WSTD Beddows, CHFHQ Sqd, RNAS Yeovilton ext 6155, will swop for any Devonport ship deploying or not.

LOM (AWW) L. Byrd, HMS Dryad (0467

782869), drafted HMS Sutherland, July/Aug. Will swop for any Portsmouth ship, preferably Type 23.

CH1 Fowler, HMS Endurance, BFPO 279 until June 2002. Will consider any Portsmouth ship, preferably not deploying soon.

LMEM(M) Moore, EM2 (Hull) HMNB

Portsmouth, drafted HMS Illustrious, May 27.

Will swop for Portsmouth Type 42/23 or small ship.

• Ratings seeking to swop drafts must meet the requirements of BR14, article 0506. All applications must be made on Form C240 to NDD, Centurion Building.

King's Squad and Gunnery Cup. In guard for

1937 Coronation. Ships: Amphion (Africa station), Belfast 1939, Commando including service in Burma (MID) and othe parts of S. E. Asia, post-war service in Mediterranean.

Portsmouth City Police 1948-50. Civil Defence volunteer for 18 years (Area Officer). Held various offices in Newbury & District Naval Association for 40 years. Jan. 4, aged 81.

ASSOCIATION OF RN OFFICERS

Cdr (E) T. A. Boustead. Served: Fisgard, President, Ranpura, Excellent.

The Rev P.J. Burgoyne OBE. Served: St Angelo, Birmingham, Fulmar, Ganges, Collingwood, Drake, Dryad, Excellent, Victory, Cochrane.

Lt Cdr A. J. Campbell. Served: Renown, Erne, Berwick, St Vincent, Superb, Highflyer, Montclare, Orion, Cumberland, Dolphin.

Cdr (S) D. J. Cliffe. Served: Mauritius, Bermuda, Tamar, Pembroke, Bellerophon, Bulwark, Heron, Drake, Daedalus.

Cdr D. G. Halliday Served: Peregrine, Goldcrest, Fulmar, Tyne, Drake, Daedalus, Seahawk.

Capt R. Humphreys-Jones VRD and Bar, JP, RNR. Lt (S) E. C. Jones. Served: Phoebe, Orion, Sea Eagle, Maidstone, President.

Cdr A. J. Phillips VRD, RNR. Cdr (E) A. P. Rabbit. Served: Trusty, Amphion, Jutland, President, Cerberus, Girdle Ness, Dainty, Neptune, Victory.

Capt M. P. Roche-Kelly RM. Served: Copra, Rosneath, Plymouth.

Cdr E. G. Stearns OBE. Served: Vulpine, Sanguine, Tactician, Rocket, Corunna,

YES, I would like to subscribe to Navy News

Narvik, Lion, NATO.

(please refer to the table opposite for price):

Cdr J. A. Syms DSC. Served: Vindictive, Belfast, Manchester, Foresight, Malaya, Quorn, Chasseur, Royal, Whaddon, Ben Yeoman, Chevron, Cheviot.

Capt J. K. McATod. Served: Devonshire.

Daring, Sheffield, Pembroke, Gambia.

Service people's art goes on show HIGH-STANDARD paintings and sculptures by

ROYAL NAVAL ASSOCIATION

Thomas Rose, life member Portsmouth.

Ex-CERAand Burma Star veteran. March 12.

Leslie Cox, Sidcup. Ex-AMA. Member of FAA Association.

Bill Paterson, founder member and former treasurer Southern Ontario. Member of HMS Edinburgh Survivors Association, HMS Ajax Association, George Cross Island Association, Submariners Association and Royal Canadian Legion. Recipient of letter of commendiation from Canadian Prime Minister for his record as a blood donor.

March 31, aged 77.

Duncan Turner, Southern Ontario. ExRCN Sto, served 1943-46. Ships included HMCS Thunderer. Feb. 14, aged 76.

Edward (Ted) Woodhouse, president Sawston. WW2 submariner. March 8, aged 82.

Anthony Young. Redcar & District. ExCK(S), served 1945-52. Ships: Chevron, Cheviot, Orsay. March 15, aged 73.

Derek Pilley, Dartmouth. Ex-LWTR, served 1942-46. Ships included Palladin (liberation of Singapore). Feb. 15, aged 75.

Norman Baker, founder member

QCVS - Lt Cdr Michael Joseph Dreelan, CPO Paul Vincent Flower.

Appointments

Deaths Angelo, Unicorn, Sluys, Alaunia. Served as cox'n and driver to Rear Admiral A. G. Talbot.

Feb. 17, aged 78.

Joyce V. Moore (nee Beach), ex-WRNS 1941-46. Served at Lowestoft and Pembroke. Feb. 3, aged 78.

Peter Dympnd, ex-AH, served 1948-58.

Member of Aircraft Handlers Association.

April 2.

Lt Cdr Robert Pilling, joined as boy seaman. Ships: Albion, Implacable, Dingly, Lowestoft, Diana, Sheraton, Bronington, Gavinton (CO). Dec. 10 in Jacksonville, Florida, aged 65.

Arthur Jago, WW2 submariner. Vice president of RN & RM Old Comrades Association, Bristol.

Alfred William Blake, WW2 veteran.

Member of RN & RM Old Comrades Association, Bristol. Aged 82.

Albert C. Winch, member of Algerines Association (HMS Fairy). March 29.

William A. Leadbeater, member of Algerines Association (HMS Hare). April 1.

Michael (Mick) Knighton. ex-AB, served

OPERATION BARWOOD

MBE - Sgt Gareth Evans RM. QCVS - Lt Col Rex Warwick Barnes RM, Maj Robert Fred Baxendale RM.

Atlantic

Capt Stuart James Rule RM, HMS Fearless. April 5.

Mne lan Robert Mackintosh, 42 Cdo RM, formerly of NP 2001 in Diego Garcia, At Weston-super-Mare Hospital. March 25.

Jonathan Carty, Commodore Niall Stuart Roderick Kilgour, Capt Scott Lidbetter RN, Lt Cdr Henry George Murray Mitchell, Lt Cdr Frederick William Robertson MBE, Col Andrew Salmon RM.

arms and the pursuit of the arts are not incompatible.

The works are in a variety of styles and demonstrate a surprisingly wide range of subject matter. Members and associates include eligi-

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NAVY NEWS, MAY 2001

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Sport

Boxers make their mark

A NEW set of wheels from Vauxhall will help the Navy's rugby bandwagon to roll.

The 4x4 Frontera car was

handed to the Royal Navy Rugby Union at HMS Nelson

in a two-year deal, and will have a far-reaching effect, said Cdr Bob Gray, RNRU Director of Finance and Marketing.

FIVE Royal Navy boxers have

been ranked in the top ten of their respective weight categories in England, the culmination of a busy and successful year.

"It will support Navy rugby, right from the grass roots taking coaches to train people who are just taking up the sport - to checking on the form of players in establishments across the country," Cdr Gray said.

"It will benefit all levels of player, male and female, and up to veterans level."

Picture: LW(PHOT) Angle Pearce (SFPU).

ranked fifth.

Combined Services cruiserweight champion OM Tony Hindlcy, ranked third in his division, had an identical record to Cusick, including wins against the highly-rated RAF champion and the US Navy No. 1.

Hindlcy was put out of this year's All England event by the national champion.

Mne Mick O'Connell, the Navy's heavyweight champion, made number nine in the rankings in a good season.

He beat an England representative and last year's ABA finalist, and after losing in controversial

THE PORTSMOUTH Command volleyball squad managed a first when they swept the board at the interCommand championships at HMS Drake, leaving Air the runners-up in all three events.

fashion in the inter-Services, he

The men's, women's and mixed teams all won their finals, a feat never before accomplished.

All commands were represented, except Fleet, resulting in the

got back to winning ways in a

recent show against the RUC. Because of operational commitments, Navy super heavyweight champion Mne Nick Isherwood could not be spared for this year's championships - but his past performances still put him in fifth

highest standard of competition for more than a decade, and the

surprise package was Plymouth, often the tournament's whipping boys.

place in the tables.

Royal Navy boxing coach POPT

They shocked the Portsmouth men's team by taking the first set

Q Shillingford was delighted by

the results of the season, and said:

in the tournament opener, but this merely galvanised the Portsmouth

"I have enjoyed my first season as

the Navy coach. The lads have worked very hard to reach national level."

Shillingford also expressed his

A WORLD boxing champion trained at the Plymouth Command gym - and went on to defend his title at a packed Plymouth Pavilions.

Adrian Stone, the I BO world light middleweight champion, was using a gym with no shower facilities or mirrors for shadow-boxing.

One of the West Country pros on the undercard, Danny Lawson, a former sailor, suggested the Plymouth Command gym might be available.

Danny contacted LS Rab Butler from HMS Cambridge, and the Plymouth Command boxing coach was delighted to help the champion.

Rab met Adrian and his trainer,

Joe Riviera, and showed them round the Navy facilities, and the

pair were so impressed they switched to the Service facility the following day - Riviera said he

wished he had been able to contact Butler earlier.

In

the event, Stone

beat

Townsley, of Scotland, on a unanimous decision over 12 rounds, cheered on by a strong Naval contingent.

Nelson in the Navy Cup - and

Pompey squad net a record

RN team captain OM Kev

World champ trains with RN

THE HOCKEY team from HMS Drake travelled to Portsmouth to take on HMS

â&#x20AC;˘ Navy rugby player LPT Al Holl with the new Frontera.

V

Davie, the Combined Services lightweight champion, is ranked third in the country, and has won six of his seven bouts.

The only defeat came in the All England semi-finals, when he lost a close points decision against the reigning champion.

Mne Jim Cusick (Combined Services light welterweight champion) also won all but one of his contests - the only blemish in his six bouts came in a controversial points decision, again at the All England semi-final stage. Cusick is

thanks to all commanding officers and heads of departments for releasing boxers to take part in training and tournaments.

Hockey trophy heads West

Wheels turn for Navy rugby

team into simple, effective volleyball.

With a large, able squad, the

Hampshire side managed to rotate â&#x20AC;˘ Great Britain rugby league coach David Waite visited the Royal

Navy rugby league squad in Portsmouth to give them a massive boost to the upcoming season. This year's campaign has already yielded a title, with the Navy winning the London Broncos 9s tournament at Greenwich University.

Picture: LW(PHOT) Christine Wood (SFPU).

players to keep them fresh, and finished top of the league.

A hard-fought final against Naval Air Command brought

Portsmouth a 3 sets to 1 victory.

The women's final saw the same

two Commands battling for honours, and despite Portsmouth being undcr-strength, a combination of powerful hitting by Debbie Vout and excellent covering of the Air attack brought a 2-0 result.

Only two teams entered the mixed event, and again Portsmouth and Air were involved in a battle for supremacy.

Slightly more powerful hitting from the Portsmouth team edged them the first set, but the going got easier in the second set, and they pressed home their advantage to tie up the final 2-0.

The Royal Navy squads for the forthcoming inter-Services and Crown Services tournaments were chosen from the day's competition, and hopes are riding high that the Senior Service can dislodge the RAF from their accustomed perch.

Anyone interested in playing Navy volleyball should contact their PT staff for more information.

In the Portsmouth area, Navy Trident training takes place every Thursday at HMS Sultan from 1900-2100, and all standards are welcome.

returned to the West Country with the spoils for the first time since 1957.

Drake took the lead with firsthalf goals from Cdr Colin Stockman and PO Paul Rcidy, and went three up in the second half through OM Rowan Edwards.

Nelson pulled a goal back, but CH Franky Tingle scaled the victory with a fourth for the Devonport side.

Drake had beaten HMS Cambridge, Seahawk and defending champions Heron to reach the final - and Heron proved a tough challenge, with a penalty shoot-out

deciding the tie after two draws, LPT Daz Blythin saving two flicks.

Drake have since beaten HMS Raleigh in the area cup final, and will take on the Army and RAF champions at a tri-Servicc tournament in Aldershot this month.

Big prize goes to small ship A BUSY programme of exercises and operations did not stop the men of HMS Middleton taking the honours in the Fleet Indoor Rowing

Trophy 4,000m team event.

The Hunt-class mine countermeasures vessel was on deployment to the Mediterranean, and

the team had to train while taking part in Argonaut 2000.

A time of 12m 30s was achieved despite the small ship's participation in Destined Glory 2000 and Exercise Lt Cdr Acton - a Turkish bilateral exercise named in memo-

ry of the Royal Navy officer who died in the disastrous earthquake of 1999 - just before the rowing event.

Since then, on her return from

the Mediterranean, the ship has carried out other tasks, including Operation Pike and a Joint Maritime Course, before she reached her home base of Portsmouth.

As yVai'v News went to press,

Middleton was due to return to Ministry of Agriculture, Fishery and Food duties.

NAVY golfers followed up the successes of last season with a solid performance in

the opening match of the new campaign against Cornwall, writes Cdr Gary Skinns.

Although the match resulted in a narrow defeat, there were many positive signs and much encouragement for the selectors.

Through an excellent relationship with both the West Cornwall Club and county officials, the RN were able to field a total of 14 players from the total squad strength of 25, thus giving as many as possible a competitive outing early in the year.

The team was joined by ex-Navy stalwarts

Malcolm Edmunds and Peter Darlington as guest players on the Sunday, making for an

unprecedented 16-a-side event.

The match represented debut appearances for four players. MEA Adam Hawkins (HMS Sultan) looks to be a valuable find for Navy golf.

He joined the Service late last year having spent a few years in the professional golf ranks, making three appearances on the full PGA European Tour.

Currently playing to a handicap of plus 1, he

looks set to bolster the Navy team for some time.

LWEA Glynn Shearer (HMS Nottingham) also has much potential, and although lacking practice at present, he enjoyed his first match,

gaining some good results.

Both CPO Fred McEvoy (HMS Neptune) and BC/Sgt David Sharp (CTCRM) have been around the Command teams for some years and have played themselves into this year's squad.

David's inclusion makes history, with all three of the Sharp brothers (all RM bandsmen) now representing the Service. Both he and McEvoy enjoyed a good weekend and will relish further

ence in the county side rallied, and although further wins came later down the order from Shearer, Whitehouse and WTR lan Learmonth (HMS Drake), the team eventually fell to an overall defeat by 13 points to 11.

The Navy fixture list for 2001 once again has an attractive look to it, culminating in the men's defence of the inter-Services title in September.

appearances.

players, and anyone interested should contact cither the RNGA secretary on HMS Temeraire 27880 or the ladies' secretary, CWDH Pam Jack on HMS Neptune 6627. The ladies championship will be held at Cumberwell Park on Friday June 15.

The match itself, played over the

delightful West Cornwall course just outside St Ives, was close all the way.

The morning foursomes saw the Navy winners in three games and one halved to be one point down at lunch. There were wins for the pairings of MEM Mike Settlefield (HMS Sutherland)/C/Sgt Smiler Whitehouse (HMS Flying Fox); Cdr lan Yuill (DNPCP)/Hawkins and the 'guests' Edmunds and Darlington.

RNGA captain Lt Guy Norris and his Navy champion partner S/Lt Terry Taylor secured a half.

The afternoon singles got off to a resounding start with Lt Cdr Darryl Whitchead (771 NAS) winning the top game convincingly. When the RN team achieved three wins out of the next four games through Hawkins, Terry Taylor and Norris, things looked promising.

However, the strong mix of youth and experi-

The ladies' section is once again looking for

The major intra-RN event on the men's side is the new-look RN championships, on July 2-6 at Bruntsfield Golf Links, Edinburgh. The week will combine the inter-Command championships (teams) and the Navy strokeplay championships (team and individual).

A DCI will be published shortly announcing the event and giving further details. A number of individual entries for the strokeplay will be

available for players not selected to Command teams.

Anyone of handicap ten or below who wishes to be considered for one of these entries should contact the RNGA secretary (number above).

Provisional entries pending Command teams selections are acceptable.

Memorial game is arranged A MEMORIAL rugby match for a submariner who died last year is to be played at the home of Warrington Rugby Union club in Cheshire this month.

LMEM Michael Smith, of HMS

Tireless, died in a fall last June while his submarine was in Gibraltar. He left a wife and two young children.

Now a match has been orga.ii-

ised between members of the Submarine Flotilla and a guest team of family and friends, to oe

played on May 12, kick oft 1 lam.

Anybody interested in becoming involved with the match -

which is hoped will become an annual fixture - should contact CMEA Bungy Williams, of HMS Torbay, on 01752 557210, or 9375 67210 on the military network.

NAVY NEWS, MAY 2001

www. navy news. co. uk Options

Tourists lose to Mumbles A MINI-TOUR to South Wales by HMS Trafalgar ended in defeat on the rughy pitch against the Mumbles.

A good training session raised the hopes of the suhmariners for the tour match, hut after an initial burst of Navy pressure the home side took over and won the match comfortably.

Despite the defeat, the run ashore was declared a great success, and the tour also helped raise the profile of the Royal Navy in

the area.

Sport

Stage is all set for a Twickenham decider DEFEAT for the RAF against both the Royal Navy and the Army means that the Twickenham showdown on May 5 will determine the fate of the inter-Services rugby union title.

with the Navy travelling to Kingsholm, Gloucester, to take on

With a tough scries of fixtures behind them, and much learned in the defeats, the Navy were looking to put in some hard work and take the game to their hosts, who had

fixture list to date.

On a cold evening, left winger Spencer Brown fielded a poor clearance kick and broke through the centre, carrying the ball a full 45 metres, to set up a try for new cap Simon Channing on the opposite flank with less than a minute

The competition got under way

won just one game in their smaller

on the clock.

the RAF.

Another burst of pressure at the

A ONE-day ladies' golf coaching course, for absolute beginners and those with high handicaps, will be held at Chichester on May 16. The day will include two hours of professional coaching. Contact LPT Hollon 938024151.

score 23-3.

The RAF uppcd the tempo at this stage, forcing their visitors on to the defensive, and only an excellent tackle by Brown snuffed out a

Athletics date

promising RAF attack.

ANYONE wishing to attend a club coach level 1 athletics course, on June II to 13 at HMS Temcraire,

Despite a mounting total of penalties conceded, the Navy kept

out their opponents, and the score

should contact Mr S. Penbcrthy on tcl 9380 26718.

Biathlon bid Condor on June 25-30. Contact Cpl Rodgers on RM Condor cxt 2170.

The Navy quickly settled and began to dominate, with a Jcz French penalty and tries by scrum half Dave Pascoe and team captain Dan Parkes stretching the Navy tally to 18, with just a solitary RAF penalty in reply before the halftime break.

start of the second half almost brought another instant score through Brown, who sliced through again, but it was only a matter of minutes before the momentum paid dividends, with Bob Armstrong notching the fourth Dark Blues' try to make the

Golf course

AN INTENSIVE five-day selection course for the RN/RM biathlon team, open to men and women, will be held at RM

43

• Peter Curtis, captain of the Army team, and Dan Parkes, Royal Navy team captain, show off some heavy artillery to England rugby players (back to front, left to right) Ben Cohen, Martin Corry, Dorian West and Richard Hill, at Pennyhill Park Country Club. England were training at Sandhurst Military Academy.

Picture: Warren Little (A/lsport).

remained unchanged.

The heart, commitment and aggression of the Navy side indicate that the Army, who defeated the RAF 13-8, will have to fight every inch of the way if they are to achieve anything at Headquarters this month.

• See next month's Navy News for a report on the Royal Navy v Army

match. The ticket hotline is 0870 444 6633.

Beth falls one win short of a medal A NAVY judo player claimed seventh place in the Belgian Open ladies' judo championship, despite a training programme plagued by illness and injury.

WAEM Beth Wood (HMS Heron) put up an outstanding performance to become the highestplaced British player on the day.

Supported by BAE and her judo

club in Bristol, Beth entered the tournament after becoming interServices champion at her weight group in March.

With more than 50 players in her weight category from all over the world as well as a strong British National contingent, the competition in Belgium was always going to be tough.

In the early rounds Beth had good wins against German and French opponents, and she managed a knockout win against a Dutch girl.

But she then came up against one of the eventual finalists, and was put out of the main competition.

There still remained a chance to win a bronze medal in the rcpechagc, and Beth won her next contest against the Belgian homecrowd favourite.

But her lack of competition at this level started to tell, and she lost her next contest, leaving her one win short of that medal.

REALLY IS IAKINC OFF)

$,£££££!

• Action from the Navy Cup football final, in which HMS Seahawk (yellow shirts) defeated HMS Neptune on penalties. The score was 1-1 at the end of 90 minutes, and there were no goals in extra

time, so it was down to the saves of the Seahawk keeper to bag the trophy for the Culdrose air station.

Picture: LW(PHOT) Angie Pearce (SFPU).

Admiral, American and airmen on the attack A LARGE entry of players, headed by Flag Officer Surface Flotilla Rear Admiral lan Forbes, contested the RN men's indoor tennis tournament in Portsmouth.

A series of round-robin mini leagues produced some exciting clashes, with each group winner progressing to one set of semi-finals and the runners-up entering a plate competition.

A number of players new to Naval tennis performed well, with MEM Dominic Spivey (HMS

Raleigh) catching the eye.

Overseas entrant Lt Cdr Mike Wojick USN (Centurion) won through to the main final, where he faced the Royal Navy's number one, PORT Steve Losh (Faslane).

The Scottish-based player proved too strong for the American, and he retained the title he won last year with a straight sets win.

The plate contest saw Admiral Forbes face Cdr

David Marsh, Fleet Supply Officer, in the semifinal.

Cdr Marsh, obviously happy under Fleet First, defeated his boss before losing out in the final to PORT Dolly Gray.

PORT Gray had beaten the Aviators' top

entrant, Cdr Al Clark, on his passage to the final.

The competition has set the standard for what should be an interesting season, with fixtures planned against the senior British tennis clubs Ealing, Hurlingham, Roehampton and Queens -

before

the

inter-Services

competition

at

Wimbledon in July.

One other date for the diary is the Royal Navy championships for men's and women's singles and doubles, plus a mixed doubles competition, between July 14 and 17 in Portsmouth.

Full details from Clive Lambshead on 9380 24193.

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Options

CENTURY OF THE SILENT SERVICE Royal Navy submarines 1901 -2001 Naw News

Options

NAVY NEWS SUBMARINE CENTENARY SUPPLEMENT MAY 2001

Winding and

I

the end of World War 1 the Royal Navy had 138 Atsubmarines of 15 different classes.

Personnel numbers had increased from 1,418 to 6,058 during the war; but 126 officers and 1,048 men had been killed, with 58 submarines lost.

Then came retrenchment (forerunner of 'rationalisation') which left 5 I submarines of variable value; and Great Britain. nearly brought to her knees in 1917 by U-boat Handdskrieg, was advocating the abolition of submarines world-wide.

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Until then her own submarine service would he used to train anti-submarine forces which, equipped with secret Asdic, would soon put an end to underwater warfare anyway.

But, if war again broke out before this desirable goal was achieved, the Royal Navy's submarines would assist the battle-fleet to command the seas by scouting and attacking enemy warships and U-boats.

The proven independence of submarines. together with their unique ability to exploit stealth and surprise for assaulting the enemy in his own waters, was quickly forgotten in an era of wishful thinking.

Fleet submarines were therefore still much favoured in the l92t)s despite quite recent Kboat calamities and no proof of the tactical pudding: K-26. a swept-up steamboat. was at sea from 1923 until 1931 before this last of a catastrophic class was struck from the list.

Finally, three comfortable but costly 2.680ton. 22-knot River-class diesel boats emerged in the early 1930s for yet another attempt at - which working with the surface navy they never did.

Rear-Admiral (Submarines) at Gosport did his best at a practical level. I-Ic called on his command for a detailed list of 1914-18 lessons learned, and a thick manuscript volume resulted: it resides, with scant evidence of being heeded in its own time, amongst the RN Submarine Museum archives at Gosport.

Besides helpful recommendations for habitability ("each man should have his own hunk, as this tends to let him rest better than lying on the deck"), seagoing officers who had inspected surrendered U-boats repeatedly remarked on superior German equipment.

They envied reliable and reversible diesels, gyros, binoculars, foul-weather gear and bridge-protection for watch-keepers. preangling for torpedoes, torpedoes themselves and periscopes.

I lowever. despite the faults in British boats.

Cdr Acland of HMS G10 assured RA(S) that "with the exception of men with delicate phvs-

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" Top: HMS J4, with awnings spread, passing through the Suez Canalon her way to join four sisters in the Royal Australian Navy. The 19.5 knot triple-screwed Js were another failed fleet-submarine class. " Above: HMS Phoenix, long-range and quite fast on the surface at 18 knots, on the China station in the 30s. " Right: Cdr Max K Horton 0S0, first captain of Ml and ultimately victor of theAtlantic battle against U-boats in World War II, at his monitor's retractable 3m, secondary armament in 1918. " Below: The 500-ton H29, one of 37 in the class. Slack executive procedures caused her to sink in No 2 Basin, Devonport, with the loss of six lives, on August 9, 1926.

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FRONT COVER: HMS Ml, with a battleship's l2in gun and diesel engines, in the Firth of Forth soon after completion in April 1918. Although surprisingly agile, the three "mutton-boats" inherited ill-fortune from the K-class whose hulls were used as their basis.

All pictures coui?sey of the RoyalNavy Submarine Museum. Gospoil.

By RIC

ica I hc.il t Ii or of gIoony temperament. long periods of patrol had no injurious Reports were unflattering about British engines which were "thoroughly had all through - in design. workmanship and fitting.

That they functioned at all during the war was due to "the untiring perseverance and endurance of the engine morn staffs of the boats for whom a patrol was a rest from ever-

effect*'.

lasting refitting.'

Understandahl, a coolness developed between engineering and executive branches. the former hinting heavily that upper-deck brethren were not sufficiently acquainted with technical skills or problems.

In January 1926 The Naval Engi,we'ri,sg Review's editor recalled Admiral Bcatty's cordial tribute after Jutland - "The engine-room -. and contrasted department never fails" executive carelessness in the Submarine Service, noting that this was "often referred to as the irresponsible navy".

The upper deck rejoined with snide remarks about the purple empire.

It was said, for example, that an engineer four-striper at Sheerness expressed interest, while visiting a submarine, in the business of submerging: he asked the first lieutenant where he got the water from to fill main tanks.

bal-last

i i -

r

the plumbers had a point. Fourteen submarines were accidentally lost durBut ing the inter-war years: and only one sinking was directly attributable to the engineroom department -when K l5 foundered in a tidal basin after an unobserved drop in hydraulic pressure which permitted main vents to fall open.

Strong men like Max Horton took a hard line when suspecting slackness hut, in his view, a commanding officer was responsible for all aspects of his boat's performance: while commanding a flotilla in the early '2()s he tired the CO of M2 for embarrassing enginefailures off Spain.

Throughout, the Admiralty declined to accept that submarine designs or building yards were blameworthy.

In 1934 a constructively critical paper written by Engineer Captain George Vullar, examining the shortcomings of the E-class lb years earlier, resulted in this "most energetic and exceptionally efficient officer" being relegated to half pay. Doubtless other well-meaning commentators took the hint.

In general. submarines became larger during the '20s and '30s. Numerous l.t)55-ton [.-boats started giving wa to more heavily-arnied but rather clumsy long-range 2.0(10-ton 0. P and R types.

The big new Rs were not to he confused with the earlier anti-submarine R-class. capable of an unprecedented 14 knots submerged.

These small boats, an sea from 1918Il), were far ahead of their time, hut eight of the ten were taken out of service within four years, recalling John I lollatid's sour remark from the 1590s: the slim, streamlined hulls 'had no deck to strut on.

It was speculated. before the first fullpower trial submerged. that the big single propeller would gradually come to rest while the submarine revolved around it; but the speedy Rs attracted dashing captains.

In those days there was a chain-k'rrv across I'ortsmouth I larbour. and its bridge telegraph had three positions: (lard-aGosport. I lard-a-Portsmouth. and Stop.

One gnarled ferry-master vowed that he always rang down Stop to Id I IM ships pass in or out of harbour, "hut when I sees that Mr X in R4 a-corning I goes straight hack".

In an effort to diversify, and even emulate big ships. three K-boat hulls were given diesel engines and transformed into submersible l2in. gun platforms (as Admiral Fisher had suggested during the war) with a 3m, gun as well, and four lSin. how torpedo tubes.

The resulting M-hoats, displacing 1.951) tons submerged. were surprisingly agile: a I2in. round could he fired as soon as the gun broke surface: but the 863lh shell and two cordite charges could only be reloaded when the submarine was firmly on the roof.

Needless to say, the gunnery staff at -

down 1V1)11k ing up

NEWS, SUBMARINE CENTENARY SUPPLEMENT, MAY 2001

NAVY

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" HMS Thetis preparing for trials in 1939. On June 1 she sailed from Birkenhead for her first dive but sank with the loss of 99 men when flooded through a torpedo tube. Salvaged and renamed Thunderbolt, she was finally sunk by enemy action on March 14, 1943.

HARD COMPTON-HALL Whale Island formulated suitably heavy-hoot:d orders for drill at the huge niou nI ing: At the order "Test sit letv and loading gear".

I No. I opens the loading door and orders 'Out tray".

INo. 2 should find this impossible and eports accordingly.

INti. closes the loading door and orders 'Open the breech".

INo. 2 opens the breech. No. I orders "Out ray INo. 2 should find this impossible and

cports accordingly.

And so on: everything wrong should he mpossihle in gunnery terms.

Gun-action was wonderful to watch, but cst from a distance, because on three occaiOflS a wire-hound barrel burst when water :ntcred the bore before firing.

On another day the director-layer of Ml. his nind occupied with erotic anticipation of a orthcorning ship's company dance, neglected to :heck the tampion before pressing the trigger.

The tampion opened all right - and flew )fl. closely pursued by a l2in. brick; but after went fathom after fathom of the wire which ;trengthened the inner rifling and to which he tampion was attached, securely anchoring 1 I with her own gun.

Tragically. Ml was rammed and sunk by the wcdish SS Vidaron November 12,19')5. pre;umahly while out of trim and neither shallow

enough to see through the periscope nor deep enough to avoid an oncoming ship.

M2 was converted, by the end of 1927. to cart a tin Parnall Peto spotter-plane. Pilot and observer were allowed both flying and submarine pa', so there was no lack of volunteers. lJnlortunatelv. one pair was grossly overweight. Launched with this jumbo team aboard for a test flight, the aircraft failed to gain height.

Wavering across the fashionable beach at the starboard float demolished a bathing hut, revealing to public gaze a distinguished local citizen inadequately clad in a small pink towel. Nobody was hurt, although civil relationships suffered.

On January 26. 1932, M2 and her crew were lost. Eagerness to speed-up launching procedures caused the pressure-hull hatch to the hangar to he opened, as well as the watertight hangar door, while the boat was still partially submerged.

It was also thought that the order 'close' might have been misheard as 'open'. Thereafter. submariners always used the word 'shut'.

During the General Strike in May 1926. the third "Mutton-boat" was sent to the London Docks, where she kept four plants, two cranes and some important pumps supplied with electricity.

Afterwards, she was converted to a minelayer with 80 standard mines; but catch-

Lee-on-the-Solent.

meat-refrigera-tion

0 HMS Ursula circa 1939. The small 730-ton Us were originally designed, unarmed, for anti-submarine training; but, with torpedo tubes and a gun added, they became exceedingly effective operational boats, bearing the brunt of the mid-Mediterranean underwater war

a trim on diving was dodgy while the huge mine-casing slowly flooded. RA(S), by then Martin Nasmith V(' of LII fame, condemned the boat as unsafe in war.

All the same, experience with M3 enabled six effective Porpoise-class minelayers to be built.

The crtiiser-submarine X-1 was another white elephant. Completed in 1925 with a of 119. she was much larger than any submarine previously, built.

Besides six 21 in. torpedo tubes she carried two twin 5.2in. gun turrets. In theory she could make 19.5 knots on the surface, and at economical speed she had a greater range than normal cruisers, but her diesels continually, broke down and she was plainly vulnerable to counter-fire from ships and bombing by aircraft.

XI was formally taken out of service in 1936.

Happily, and just in time, submarine strategy started returning to reality with the advent of tough 950-ton S-boats in 1933. followed by 1.58(1 ton T-boats in 1937, and the little 73(1-ton Us. which were originally intended as "clockwork mice" but proved highly operational.

The 1 got off lo a sad start, with the flooding of Thetis in Liverpool Bay during acceptance trials on June 1. 1939, but their performance thereafter was splendid.

In light of so many peacetime disasters, extreme safety measures were inevitable.

Submarines were seldom, if ever, allowed to dive at night, and they had to burn navigation lights during exercises on the surface.

Ail

in

' a.

company

One of the 33 successful and ubiquitous general-purpose L-boats at Kuching in 1923. The picture below shows crewmen of L3 - and visitors seeking shelter from the sun in the same year. "

general-purpose

" Turn to next page.

Great Gift ideas for the Submariner in your life from

The Collection

HMS Vanguard £1.25 UK Price £1.75 Overseas Price

Also available

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The Collection contains many submarines including

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NAVY NEWS, SUBMARINE CENTENARY SUPPLEMENT, MAY 20O1 Options

• M3, converted to a minelayer in 1928, showing the 'clam' mining door through which up to 80 Type B mines, stowed on a track inside her casing, could be laid.

Winding down and working up • From previous page.

Warlike training, for submarines and anti-submarine units alike, • K26, completed in 1923 with an improved design, undeniably was thereby inhibited; operational looked handsome; but, to the relief of many, she was the last of analyses were misleading; and the calamitous K-class. physical safety features such as escape hatches detracted from wartime performance.

In the event, the latter were quite often clipped externally to avoid them jumping under depthcharge attack.

However, by the mid-1930s morale and efficiency were bucking up under vigorous young commanding officers guided by firm, determined flotilla captains.

Submarine COs recognised the full worth of their "Chiefs" and engine-room teams who kept the • M2, robbed of her big gun and refitted by 1927 as a seaplanenew boats running well; and everycarrier, launching her tiny Parnall Peto spotter plane. She was lost where a sense of purpose was off Portland, with all hands, on January 26, 1932. becoming evident again.

• Firepower at Fort Blockhouse. From inboard, L12, M1, L23 and M3 (before conversion), probably pictured in 1924 when Max K Horton was an exacting Captain of HMS Dolphin. M1 was lost the

following year.

Crews trained hard and played hard; and, like as not, rules were bent a little to allow more realistic

exercises - especially on the China station 10,000 miles from head

office.

Now, Captain C.B. Barry was able to tell his RUSI audience:

"Nobody has ever discovered why anybody likes a life in submarines.

But if you do like it, you like it very much indeed."

Like it or not, and perhaps more consciously than any other service arm, submariners were working up to war.

• M1 firing her 12in. gun off Gibraltar in 1923. Unfortunately, water in the barrel caused it to burst - not the only occasion when it did

so - but nobody was hurt.

This is the second of four supplements this year which build into a history of the Submarine Service. Part 1 appeared in our January edition, Part 3 will appear in September, and Part 4 in November. To order a copy of January's edition, telephone 023 9282 6040.

Babcock

International BBS Division

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Tireless is to return home soon

lNlS I RI 1,1 SS's \Cal -loll,-, stay. at Gibraltar is altitost over. Repairs to the ttuelearpowered submarine's reactor cooling system were eontpleted in she is expected mid_April attd to leave t or I)evo 111)0 rt in May. After a cooling system defect was discovered while site was on ihc plovmc Fit- site reached the Rock where it was decided to keep her for the complex repair job.

Local protests it Iirelcss's slav have been vociferous in the face of Ministry of Defence assurances that tier presence posed tit) datiger. The nature of her defect raised concerns about Britain's kit hter fleet subtnani flex - attd a program rile of checks ;tilt] miii ntciattcc was started to ensure their safety. " The Ministry. of Deferice has itts ted the public to take part in on-I itic discussions over ideas for the future hatid storage of redu itdant nuclear subtiianitics. A new websit e, hosted by Lancashire iniversitv but linked with MOWS os ii Internet site, has been set tip

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Charity feat by Herald rowers

CHARITIES lhave benefited by more than £ 1,750 as a result of I IMS Herald's 26,(XX)-rnile deployment.

While she was away, her ships company staged events to raise £ I (XX) for I Ic raIds adopted eha riics - the Cot Death Society and Cancer Research. The most energetic effort was achieved by 2(1 members of the ships rowing club who clocked up 1(1 million metres - and £751) for Comic Relief - on rowing machines.

On the upper leek, under the hot Mediterranean sun, each of five rowers completed 42,195m in three hours. lhcv were the Corn ni audi iti Officer ((dr I)uncan lilies). ('l'( )WFA Andy lawrence. IS l)ougie ('larkMnl, I WI NI) R ) Sammy Mercer ziii(l I .RC) Pete Spurling. ('dr lilIes (41)) and (l'() Lawrence (34) notched up their millionth metre of the deployFlient.

Other members of the ship's company completed speed events.

Among them were the 2.(HX)ni Fleet men's open heavyweight champion. LC1 I lopsv Iii rner, and the 2.IXR)rn ladies light'.s eight champion, I.t Charlie Atkinson, while the Stokers Mess teamed up to achieve 15,557km in an hour.

Inspiration for the event came from 1.1'! l'cte NI a ideii, who recruited 11)0 members of he ships coinp:inv into the rowine club o cr 31 months.

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Top-brass praise for the last of a class

it Naval Base on to hospital April 5. I Ic was 'Lit was pronounced dead (in ii risal. A Naval itivcstigatioii was ikuig place into the cause of the iiciihcnt. (apt Rule (27) joined the iht shill) in January. lIe was liii ned irtil xx is l ix nit in ii isiiiiiiithi.

deployment

I Icrald also became the first British warship in four years to visit Beirut, where her hosts were the Lebanese armed forces.

At Faster I lerald left her home base of I)cs onport for the last time to sail to Portsmouth. She will decommission there during a ceremolly, on May. 31.

Argyll fire delays Freedom event

determina-tion.

of the Royal N:ixss Rpe 23 lrigatcs xtihh he refitted at Rosvth l)ockvard over the next four years.

The £75 million deal xitht Babcock Rosy th Defence ltd was announced b Defence Secretary (icoff l loom when he visited the dockyard at the ettd of March.

meeting. It came when HMS Herald (above left) arrived home at Devonport streaming her paying-off pennant at the end of her last deployment, Pciu,es

PO(PHOT) Andy Wii,ie LA(P?lOT) Jon Harnt

"It.'s our best offer yet!

OCEAN survey ship HMS Herald returned to a top-level welcome at Devonport on April 12 at the end of her 27-year career with the Royal Navy.

There to greet her after her Cyprus. took part in the rescue of the crc\ of a Cypriot ferry and seVe n -11100th to attended the ceremony at I'los in the Mediterranean was the Greece marking the lS4th anniverFirst Sea Lord. Admiral Sir sarv of the Battle of Navarino. In NigeI Esse n high. a former that clash a combined British and I Ivdrographe r of the Nax (;reek nasal force defeated a And in a signal from C-in-C Iiirco-Fgvpt ian fleet in the (ircek Fleet. Admiral Sir Alan West.

War of lidependence. tier departure fron a-rvti'o was described as ---a significant occasion in our Naval it isto i''. lie pointed out that she ";Is the last of class of four ships t hicli had ''without fuss or havour' wholehe:i tied Iv supported Naval operations and campaigns in all theatres around the orld during five decades.

1 Icrald was the last and improved version of tile II ecla class, being preceded into service in the mid-I 960s 1w tiM ships I lecla. 1 Ivdra and 1 iccatc. all of which have over the years been retired from the Fleet.

Ill his signal to I lerald. Admiral West said: "I have been impressed 1w your fortitude and Do not under-estimate the significance oh our invaluable coni ribution. not only to hydrography but also 10 wider defence objectives.

---Enjoy. your richly. ticscn.c(l homecoming. I extend to you all lily very best wishes for the future, whic rcvc r that may take you.

During her last mission the I lerald charted coastal waters within the British Sovereign are* I Published by Navy News, HMS Nelson. Portsmouth. and printed by Portsmouth

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The Enclass submarine of World War I

THE ROYAL Navy's E-class was an outstanding workhorse which bore the brunt of submarine service in World War I. The first of the diesel-powered E-boats was launched at Chatham in 1912, and 20 of the subseauent 55 boats were built by Vickers.

A major improvement on the D-class. the Eboat was 30ff longer than its predecessor and displaced 667 tons when surfaced, as against the 0-boats 495 tons The E-boats safe diving depth was 200ff, with an estimated crushing depth of 350ff.

They could dive in less than a minute, and remain submerged for 24 hours.

E-boats were capable of 14 knots on the surface and almost ten knots submerged using battery power which, when combined with a 1 .500-mile operational radius at an economic ten knots made these oversea' boats effective combatants in all theatres of wa.

Apart from the first eight of class (which had four torpedo tubes: one oow. one stern and two beam) and six purpose-built minelayers, Eboats were equipped with five l8in. torpedo tubes' two in the bows, two in the beam and one in the stern.

Ten torpedoes were carried - five of them effectively being reloads although wartime patrols sometimes began with extra torpedoes lashed to the casing.

From 1915 a 12-pdr gun was added to many of the class, which added to the versatility of the vessels.

They generally carried a complement of 31 men, of which three were officers.

Propulsion was provided by reliable VickersAdmiralty diesel engines. Less sophisticated than contemporary German engines, this proved a bonus in that they could be maintained and even refitted without dockyard assistance.

The submarine depicted below is Eli, which came to prominence in the Sea of Marmara under the command of Lt Cdr Martin Nasmith, winning the 32-year-old submariner a Victoria Cross.

His three patrols from May to December 1915, totalling 96 days in enemy waters, caused the destruction of more than 120 vessels of all sizes, and his daring, calculated raids on Constantinople harbour, while failing to bag the major prizes Nasmith sought, caused consternation in the Turkish population and sparked rumours of an imminent invasion.

During these eventful months, which earned Eli the soubriquet Scourge of the Marmara', she encountered ships, aircraft and even cavalry, and was responsible for the destruction of a section of railway line along the coast, thanks to the bravery and guile of her First Lieutenant, Lt Guy D'Oyly-Hughes, who later went on to command E35 with notable success.

As Eli was making the Sea of Marmara her

own, Lt Cdr Max Horton, in E9, was tying up enemy shipping in the Baltic, known by the Germans as the Hortonsee.

E-boats gained by far the greatest number of successes against enemy warships in World War I, but their usefulness came at a price almost 50 per cent of these hard-working submarines were lost by the end of the Most of the surviving E-boats, including four minelayers and Eli, were sold in the early 1920s, with just E48, employed as a target, surviving until 1928.

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Stern torpedo tube hinged cover Rudder Rudder control linkage Twin propellers Stern hydroplane Hydroplane actuating gear Stern torpedo tube Mooring light Watertight bulkhead

24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32

Spare torpedo stowage Generator Aft mooring bollard Machinery room watertight bulkhead Engine exhaust ducts Work platform Air pump 420bhp electric propulsion motor Gearcase Twin Vickers-Admiralty 800bhp diesel engines Underfloor fuel oil tanks

33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47

Hydroplane protector Propeller shaft housing Crew rest area

Starboard aft ballast tanks Manual tank valves Engine room watertight bulkhead Aft torpedo loading hatch Aft decking Stowable derrick Access crawlway

Spare torpedo stowage Beam torpedo tubes, one port and one starboard Torpedo tube firing hatch Air bottles, total 51 Battery cells, total 224 Control room Accommodation ladder Steering pedestal, rudder control Conning tower Breather pipes Folding aerial mast Twin periscopes 12-pdr gun Folding gun platform Mooring cleat Periscope viewer Hydroplane controls, fore and aft

48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70

Wireless telegraph office Officers' quarters Bilge pump, port and starboard Forward ballast tanks Chain locker Forward torpedo room. underfloor ammunition magazine Chain pipe Control room watertight bulkhead Anchor winches Deck hatches Forward torpedo loading hatch Forward mooring bollard Spare torpedo stowage Torpedo heads Keelson Forward hydroplane

Hydroplane protector Hydroplane actuating gear Forward torpedo tubes Foredeck Anchor stowage, port and starboard Forward watertight bulkhead Torpedo door